Eriogaster catax
- 3.1 Flight times and caterpillars
- 3.2 food of the caterpillars
- 6.1 Notes and references
- 6.2 Literature
Features
The moths reach a wingspan of 30 to 35 millimeters. They have yellow-brown forewings (males), which are colored wide violet brown on the outer edge. In the middle of the front wing sits a striking, white, circular spot, lined dark brown. The females are always colored the same, only that their front wings are much darker. Only the narrow seam between the violet brown edge and the remaining wing is yellow-brown. The hind wings are monochrome, as forewings colored.
The caterpillars are about 50 mm long and have a black ground color. Along the back and on the sides they wear light gray tufts of hair that converge pointed. In addition, they have at the back short, reddish brown hair and blue and yellow spots.
Similar Species
- Spring Eggar ( Eriogaster lanestris )
- Oak Eggar ( Eriogaster rimicola )
- Plum mother hen ( Odonestis pruni )
Occurrence
The animals come in Southern and Central Europe, east to the Urals before. They were widespread in Central Europe, but are now gone almost everywhere. Their populations have declined rapidly in recent years, they are only found in a few areas, such as in the Steigerwald, in the Rhine plain of Alsace and around Geneva. They live in warm and bright, slightly moist deciduous forests, especially in those which are used extensively at medium altitudes. Eriogaster catax settled in Austria currently only the eastern parts of the national territory, namely the Burgenland, the eastern part of Lower Austria ( and an " enclave " in the western part of Lower Austria ) and parts of the capital, Vienna. From Upper Austria there is only one current record from 1993. Many former populations in Austria (about Vorarlberg, Tyrol, Carinthia ), however, are already extinct.
Way of life
Flight times and caterpillars
The nocturnal moths fly very late in the year from September to October, the caterpillars are found from May to early July.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), hawthorn (Crataegus sp.), Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur ) and other oak species, but presumably also of other deciduous trees and shrubs.
Development
The moths mate before midnight, shortly after the female sticks his balls with a dark, sticky substance around thin branches of forage crops. Then they are covered with hair of after bush. The nest looks strange, like a hairy caterpillar. Overwinter The eggs do not hatch until the caterpillars to early May. They spin together near the deposition site, a web in which they live together. Only to eat they come out of him. After the first molt, they split up and live solitary. They are then propagated to find on oaks, the young caterpillars usually live on blackthorn. Counter- June climbing the adult caterpillars on the ground down and pupate in a parchment-like, oval cocoon. It happens that the doll up to two years is before the imago emerges.
Threats and conservation
- Red List FRG: 1 ( threatened with extinction )
- Type in the Annex II of the Habitats Directive