Diachrysia chrysitis
Burnished Brass ( Diachrysia chrysitis Artkomplex )
The Burnished Brass ( Diachrysia chrysitis ) is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of cutworms ( Noctuidae ). Behind it is a complex of two very closely related to each other species ( D. chrysitis and D. tutti ) or populations whose taxonomic and nomenclatural status thus ( species, subspecies or a single variable species ) hides is not yet fully understood.
- 7.1 Notes and references
Features
Butterfly
The Burnished Brass is a medium sized butterfly with a wingspan 34-44 mm or 28-35 mm. The inner root field and the middle of the fore wings are brown, the outer root field and the Saumfeld shimmer depending shiny brass yellow, green or golden yellow on the light angle. Occasionally, the midfield may be broken or the two brass colored zones can be connected by a brass-colored bridge, as in the similar nature Diachrysia zosimi. The stigma are brown edged, inside the base color. The shaft line is light margins, the hem line thin and brown. The hem is dark brown. The veins can be highlighted brown from the shaft line. The shaft line can also be very indistinct and hardly stand out from the background color. The hind wings are brownish gray or light brown with a crescent-shaped Diskalfleck. The underside of the forewing is also light brown. The underside of the hind wings is a bit brighter with two narrow outer transverse lines and a crescent-shaped Diskalfleck. The body of the butterfly is hairy furry, at the top there is a clearly erect tufts of hair, followed the thorax end of another staggered backward sloping tufts of hair.
Egg
The egg is greenish, nearly round with a flat bottom. It has strong longitudinal ribs and transverse ribs weaker.
Caterpillar
The caterpillars reach a length of up to 25 millimeters and are colored green. The ridge lines and side ridge lines are whitish. Often the lines are completely resolved and the skid has irregular V-shaped pattern. In contrast, the side panels are edged dark and white. The head is bright green or yellow-green.
Doll
The pupa is light brown, yellow-green on the ventral side. The proboscis sheath is extended. The button-shaped cremaster is wrinkled.
Similar Species
- Diachrysia zosimi
Geographical distribution and habitat
The Burnished Brass comes almost before in Europe. In the south, the range extends into southern Spain, southern Italy and the Balkan Peninsula. However, it is missing on most Greek islands. In the north it extends into almost to the Arctic Circle and far northern Russia. In the east, the range extends to the Far East ( Amur region ) and Japan. The Burnished Brass occurs in almost open, semi- open and close to the forest biotopes and is quite common. However, it avoids dense coniferous forests and the higher elevations of the Alps.
Way of life
The Burnished Brass occurs per year in two generations, the first from mid-May to early July, the second from late July to late September. However, in climatically unfavorable areas and in the north of its range only one generation is formed. In warmer regions, and very favorable years a partial third generation may still be formed, for example, in southern Baden- Württemberg. The moths fly preferably at night, but they are also occasionally found in the day. You are strongly attracted by artificial light sources. The moths visit flowers at dusk. For the food intake of the suction tube is on the head, which is curled in sleep. Baits are hardly accepted.
The caterpillars feed on polyphagous on various low-growing plants, such as dead-nettle ( Lamium spp.), Stinging nettle (Urtica sp. ), Dandelion (Taraxacum spp.), Strawberry (Fragaria ), lung herb ( Pulmonaria ), (Echium ), mints (Mentha ), oregano (Origanum ), Common Horehound ( Marrubium vulgare) and plantain ( Plantago spp.). The second- generation offspring overwinter in the caterpillar stage and are found from September to May of the following year. The caterpillars of the second generation live in June and July. Pupation takes place in a slight cocoon on the ground between plant parts.
Synonyms
The species was described in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, under the name Phalaena ( Noctua ) chrysitis first time scientifically. Due to the variability in the wings drawing numerous infrasubspecific names were in the aftermath proposed ( aberrations and shapes), which are partially unavailable for the nomenclature. Whether Diachrysia tutti Kostrowicki, 1961 is a junior synonym, is described in detail in the following chapter.
System
The systematics of this species' or species complex D. chrysitis is extremely complicated and is still controversial in the literature and the results so far are interpreted differently. The "typical" form has two brass-colored transverse bands unconnected. Was noticed very early that in addition to this typical form of Diachrysia chrysitis is a population in Central Europe, in which the two brass-colored bands are connected by a crossbar. It has already been referred to in 1892 by James William Tutt as formatted juncta. 1961 suggested Andrzej Samuel Kostrowicki for this "form" the new way Plusia tutti ago, the name was juncta as species name is not available ( at that time was D. chrysitis nor the genus Plusia assigned ). He argued also that there are also differences in the morphology of the male genitalia of the two species. Subsequent morphological studies and especially breeding experiments presented the status of the new species into question, even though the animals can actually be grouped into two populations. However, there are intermediate forms and chrysitis typical genital features also some tutti - copies and vice versa. Later synthetic pheromone mixtures were tested in order to possibly distinguish the two populations using different pheromone blends can. Although now flying males from tutti - type mainly to an attractant, and males from chrysitis type predominantly the other attractant. But not exclusively. Also, further investigations (wing scales morphology, Elektrophoresestudien ) led to no definite result. Although the two groups were largely separate, even with these methods also. But even here there were outliers in both directions. The tutti - type seems a little early to fly on average. However, there is a large overlapping area with the flight times of chrysitis type. In the Swiss Alps, it was observed that the chrysitis type there though forms two generations, but the second generation is incomplete. The tutti - type bring in this amount produced only one generation. In 1600-1800 meters of chrysitis - type forms only of a generation, the tutti - type is missing here. Recent genetic studies using the mtDNA showed that the distinction between purely genitalmorphologischen characteristics ( ie chrysitis type and tutti - type) genetically could not be confirmed. In contrast, the destinations served by the two different attractants males ( pheromone types) differ genetically. But the genetic differences between the two pheromone types were found to be very low. The maximum Nucleotiddifferenz per site among the haplotypes was approximately 0.28 %, which moves at the bottom of genetic diversity, as usual with butterflies. The coefficient of differentiation GST was c. 76.3 % ± 11.7 %, a typical intraspecific value, ie at the subspecies level. All these studies show that the two populations are not completely reproductively isolated.
It always comes back or still to gene exchange and the mixing of the two Central European populations. They may therefore not be described as two types in terms of cladistics. However, studies are lacking so far even as to whether a genetic Artbarriere perhaps only in the F2 or even F3 generation becomes effective. Approximately by lower resistance to parasites or a lower reproductive success Ladislaus REZBANYAI - Reser holds chrysitis D. and D. tutti for " two former geographical subspecies, which fly over a wide area as a result of post-glacial area extensions today next to each other and mix slowly, but surely genetically because of differences in the pheromones. "
These findings apply only to Europe. It has long been overlooked that the two forms in the Far East ( Amur region, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Transbaikalia ) occur together. The second population / species had been called here in 1913 by William Warren Diachrysia stenochrysis. Here the morphological features ( drawing, coloring, Genitalia ) apparently correlate with each other and the two forms are probably genetically isolated, so that here there are two types. Unfortunately, there are no genetic studies on populations of the Far East to hedge the morphological findings. Diachrysia tutti Kostrowicki, 1961, therefore Goater et al. (2003) treated as a junior synonym of Diachrysia stenochrysis (Warren, 1913). However, these synonymisation was made without detailed comparisons of specimens of D. stenochrysis and D. tutti. Pheromone studies were undertaken later.
The synonymisation of Diachrysia tutti Kostrowicki, 1961 Diachrysia stenochrysis was by Hille et al. (2007) rejected. You suspect this could possibly still be a third species / population. Ladislaus REZBANYAI - Reser also challenges the synonymy of the two species. That there are two separate species, is supported by the analysis of the pheromones. The females of Diachrysia stenochrysis from Japan have a different pheromone than the females of Diachrysia chrysitis and D. tutti. The pheromones of D. chrysitis and D. tutti contain so-called ω5 ( Z5 -10: OAc) and ω3 -component ( Z7 -10: OAc ); albeit in very different conditions. In D. stenochrysis the ω5 components are completely absent as the single known Plusiinae - type and only ω3 - components are present. These authors do not explicitly on the problem one, whether stenochrysis D. and D. tutti synonyms are one. They treat D. chrysitis but D. and D. tutti stenochrysis as independent species. The type locality of D. stenochrysis is the place Ichikishiri ( Hokkaido, Japan).
Axel Steiner already suggested in 1997 The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg ( Volume 6 ), this way ( s) to call species complex, so as Diachrysia chrysitis complex or as Diachrysia chrysitis group. Within the present knowledge this seems to be the most viable proposal. By Axel Steiner, there is also a summary of the findings in Lepiforum.