Zigzag spinner
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Zigzag Moth ( Notodontia ziczac ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Notodonta ziczac | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
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The zigzag moth ( Notodonta ziczac , Syn . : Eligmodonta ziczac ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the toothed spinner (Notodontidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 37 to 48 millimeters. Their front wings are drawn light gray and dark at the front edge, the inner part of the wings is cinnamon brown. In the gray area there is a rounded dark gray spot, which is bordered by a dark arch towards the base of the wings. The hind wings are light gray in the males, darker gray in the females.
The caterpillars are about 40 millimeters long. They have a variable basic color that ranges from gray-green to pink-violet to light yellow-brown. On their fifth, sixth and eleventh segments they each have a large, and on the seventh a small hump on their back. The sides of the anterior and posterior segments are mottled reddish yellow. The anal shield is pink.
Similar species
The caterpillars are very similar to those of the yellow-brown toothed spinner ( Notodonta torva ). These have slightly higher back humps and the hump on the 11th segment is red at the back and has a narrow whitish stripe in front of it.
Occurrence
The animals are found in Europe east to Asia Minor and in North Africa and live in slightly damp, partially shaded or sunny areas with vegetation on their forage plants, such as on forest paths , in gravel pits or on the edge of moors and bodies of water. They are common and common.
Way of life
Flight and caterpillar times
The nocturnal moths fly in two generations from late April to early June and from early July to September. The caterpillars from the eggs of the first generation are found from August to September, those of the second from June to July of the following year.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed primarily on the leaves of the trembling aspen ( Populus tremula ) and Sal willow ( Salix caprea ) but also on other deciduous trees and shrubs such as sand birch ( Betula pendula ) and common hazel ( Corylus avellana ).
development
The females lay their light green, rounded eggs in small groups on top of the leaves of the forage plants. The caterpillars sit on the underside of leaf stalks and twigs during feeding breaks. They adopt a zigzag posture by bending the back and chest upwards. This camouflages them from predators, but many animals become victims of parasites . Pupation takes place in a loose web on the ground or just below the surface. The approximately 19 mm long pupae are colored red-brown. The puppet rest is about four weeks. The fully developed second generation caterpillars pupate in September and overwinter as a pupa.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heiko Bellmann: The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 238.
- ↑ Manfred Koch : We identify butterflies. Volume 2: Bears, Spinners, Swarmers and Drills in Germany. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1964, DNB 452481929 , p. 116f.
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
- Heiko Bellmann: Steinbach's nature guide. Butterflies. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim), 2010, ISBN 978-3-8001-4653-6
- Günter Ebert (Ed.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 4, Moths II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae). Ulmer-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-800-13474-8
- Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths, Spinners and Swarmers . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1
Web links
- Lepiforum e. V. Taxonomy and Photos
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- Notodonta ziczac at Fauna Europaea