Large Blue
Thyme - Large Blues ( Phengaris arion )
The thyme - Large Blues ( Phengaris arion ) is a butterfly ( butterfly ) of the family Lycaenidae ( Lycaenidae ). He is also known as Schwarzgefleckter Bluebird Bluebird or thyme. As with many Bläulingsarten the caterpillars of the wild thyme Blue butterfly during a part of their development myrmekophil live in the nest of ants. Its German name is derived from its caterpillar food plants, the Thymianen, of which some species are also popularly known as creeping thyme.
- 3.1 Flight times and caterpillars
- 3.2 food of the caterpillars
- 6.1 Notes and references
- 6.2 Literature
Features
Imagines
The moths reach a wingspan of 33-42 millimeters, and are thus among the largest indigenous to Central Europe Bläulingen. The wing tops are provided uniformly matt blue with a brown outer edge, which is stronger and more extensive in the females. At the end of Diskoidalzelle there is a black spot and a series of elongated, dark Postdiskalflecke. The undersides of the hind wings are dusted very dark green at the base, also finds root eyes and two rows of clear Saumpunkte. The individuals in lower altitudes are larger and more brightly colored than the mountain areas, which are smaller and darker. The with the altitude increasingly darkening wing tops are regarded as an adjustment to the overall cooler climate, since these moths heat radiation can absorb better.
Crawler
The caterpillars reach a length of about 15 millimeters. The body is thick and strongly tapered towards the head. This is black, and is retracted from the stationary crawler in the body. The young caterpillars are pink, they turn later whitish to ocher to and are then sometimes tinged purple to pink.
Similar Species
Similar species of gentian - Large Blues ( Phengaris alcon ( Denis & Schiffer Müller, 1775) ) and the cross- gentian - Large Blues ( Phengaris rebeli ( Hirschke, 1904) ).
Occurrence
The thyme - Large Blues dry warm populated, kurzgrasige sites with lückiger vegetation structure and impurities. These include poor grass, lime and sand dry grasslands, semi-arid grassland, silver grasslands and heaths. In Germany the species is mainly in the south, home to some of the Swabian Alb; but it is also further north, found approximately in the upper Ahr valley and forested mountains. The range extends from Western Europe ( extinct in the British Isles, reintroduction attempts in 1983 ) to East Asia and includes here are primarily the temperate zone. In the north they are found to Fennoscandia ( excluding Norway ), while it is found in southern Italy and Corsica, as well as in isolated occurrence in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula. The rest of the Mediterranean region not populated the way.
Way of life
The adults are often found sucking on Thymianen and oregano. As more nectar plants snake heads ( Echium ), Large-flowered (Prunella grandiflora ), milkwort ( Polygala vulgaris), speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys ), seed sainfoin ( Onobrychis viciifolia ), Bird Vetch (Vicia cracca ) and fence - vetch (Vicia sepium ) called.
Flight times and caterpillars
The thyme - Large Blues is a generation in which flies from June to July. The caterpillars can be found from August to May and after hibernation.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on caterpillars following food plants: Thymianen (Thymus ), particularly of sand thyme (Thymus serpyllium ) and broadleaf thyme (Thymus pulegioides ) and oregano (Origanum vulgare).
Development
The females lay eggs singly on the buds of herbivory plants. The caterpillars hatch after about a week and eat in the first three stages, first on the flowers and mature seeds of their food plant and leave it then to wait in a dark hiding the fact that they are carried by ants in their nest. The rest of its development spending myrmekophilen caterpillars with ants. You are able, longer time to be hungry, as it may take some time before they are discovered by ant workers in hiding. The workers put the Bläulingsraupen then into a brood chamber. The ants are all about the red ant Myrmica sabuleti; Myrmica scabrinodis is referred to as an occasional addition to the host. Which is deposited on the back Bläulingsraupe glands honeydew, which is a carbohydrate source for the host ants. But it feeds to pupation from eggs and larvae of the ant host. The adoption of the track succeeds well in principle with all Myrmica species, however, the mortality is low only in M. sabuleti. Nevertheless, many caterpillars come, because they are attacked in the presence of the Queen either by the workers or because they plunder the ants nest empty and thus evade even the most basic food.
The caterpillars overwinter in the nest of the host ants and are continuing to grow in the following year. The moths emerge after a pupal period of two to four weeks in the morning, when the activity of ants in the nest is still low. Therefore, it succeeds most moths, to leave the nest without attacks by ants.
Threats and conservation
The thyme - Large Blues is strictly protected under the federal Species Protection Regulation ( BArtSchV 1999), the Red List of endangered species in Germany allocates the kind in the category 2 ( high risk ) a. It is classified by the IUCN as globally threatened. For protective measures, the habitat requirements of the host ants is important to include. In addition to direct habitat loss and the task of various forms of use, such as extensive grazing and mowing is called as a threat cause. The resulting encroachment endangers the location as well as a too intensive grazing. Furthermore, the micro-climate of the respective site appears to play a crucial role. Is the soil too much shaded by vegetation, Myrmica sabuleti leaves the nest. Furthermore, the population density of host ants plays an essential role in an area, as in an ant nest usually only a parasitic living caterpillar is found.