Gold Swift
Heather rootworm ( Phymatopus hecta )
The heather - rootworm ( Phymatopus hecta ) is a butterfly (small butterfly ) from the family of rootworm ( Hepialidae ).
- 3.1 Notes and references
- 3.2 Literature
Features
The wings of the heather - rootworm are long and narrow and have a wingspan of about 23 to 30 millimeters. In the male they are patterned rusty brown with silvery spots, which are connected in series. The wing color of the female is grayish in tone, the silvery spots are broadened. The wingtips carry small hairs, the head region is surrounded by dense hairs.
Way of life
At dusk you can see the males, often in groups, see flying about helplessly in search of females. They put on at the back legs a brush -like scent organ out to attract females. In special cases, this scent organ is brought out even when sitting. The females sit for mating in the vicinity of the male on a plant down and the male comes flying. The whitish eggs are laid on the floor., They are simply dropped from the female in flight near the caterpillar food plant
During the autumn, the caterpillars hatch from their eggs. You immediately hide in the ground and eat externally on the roots Pteridium aquilinum Bracken ( possibly also to other plants in it, the are but uncertain). They overwinter in the soil and burrow in the following spring in the stem base one in which they eat an oval cavity before they leave the plant in the spring and pupate in the soil. The moth flies from June to late August.
Since the butterflies have only vestigial mouthparts, they can not feed.
Habitat
The moth is found both in deeper and at higher altitudes. Its typical habitats are forest meadows, forest margins and grassy heaths. It is common throughout the territory of the European Union and to western Russia. The species is common.