Phigalia pilosaria
Snow Spanner ( Phigalia pilosaria )
The snow tensioner ( Phigalia pilosaria ) is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of the tensioner ( Geometridae ).
Features
The male snow clamp is a comparatively large clamps with a wingspan of up to 45 millimeters. The females are flightless and have only very short stub wing. The body of the flightless female is olive-brown; the antennae are filiform. The males have relatively wide front wing. Drawing and color vary greatly. The front upper wing surface is whitish, yellowish gray to light olive brown with a black spot pattern. The transverse lines are usually weak. The hind wings are whitish. The antennas are spring -like.
Leraut distinguishes between the following color and pattern variations:
- F uniformata Lempke, 1953, the front wing is uniformly gray - brown with a greenish tint without white spots
- F obscurata damage Werda, 1919, the forewing is dark olive brown
- F destrigaria Lempke, 1953, the transverse lines are missing on the fore wings, or unable to be seen
- F tangent Lempke, 1953, the cross lines on the fore wings are relatively close to each other
- F lichenea Leraut, 2009, the front wing is olive green with strongly contrasting white spots, the pattern is reminiscent of lichen
- F grisescens Leraut, 2009, the forewings is white gray, the drawing without gray olive tint, the thorax is also gray
- F flavescens Leraut, 2009, the forewing is reddish beige, drawing blurred or expires, thorax yellowish gray, hindwing white with yellowish tint
- F pallescens Leraut, 2009), all wing tops are light gray olive color, the drawing is off or very weak, thorax light yellowish gray.
- F monacharia Staudinger, 1901, the front upper wing surface is completely black ( melanistic form)
- F extinctaria Stand, 1947 forewings are uniformly dark gray
- F nervosa Lempke, 1970, the veining of the wings is obscured
- F fasciaria Richardson, 1952, the middle of the front wing is obscured
- F clausa Lempke, 1970, the inner and outer cross- line up to the rear edge
Females with dark colors are referred to as f subnigraria Uffeln, 1914.
The egg is oval and greenish colored with brown spots. The caterpillar is yellowish to brownish green and is in four segments conical warts with bristles. On the fifth and eleventh segment the warts are slightly larger. She's on her back with black dashed orange yellow dots, or it has v -shaped spots on the 2nd and 3rd abdominal segment. The pupa is reddish brown. The cremaster has a forked tip.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The snow tensioner is widely used in Europe and not rare. The type is missing in Sardinia, Crete and Cyprus. In the north of the British Isles it is rare. In the east, the range extends into the Caucasus region.
It lives mainly on forest edges, parks, gardens and hedgerows and comes from the plains to the mountains in before. In the northern Alps, the species occurs up to about 1100 m above sea level, in the Southern Alps to 1300 meters.
Way of life
The moths occurring annually in a generation fly from late January to mid-April. The moths can be observed in mild winters as they sit on the trunks of oak and hornbeam. The caterpillars are found from late April to mid-July. They pupate in the soil and overwinter in this way. The forage plants of the snow tensioner are in addition to the Pussy Willow (Salix caprea ), the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and Aspen (Populus tremula ) and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus ). Leraut also still called elm (Ulmus spp. ), Linden (Tilia spp. ), Birch (Betula ), hazel (Corylus ) and " other deciduous trees ." The caterpillar pupates in the soil. The pupa overwinters.
Endangering
The snow tensioner is not at risk in Germany.
Taxonomy
The snow clamp is made in the recent literature also to the genus Apocheima. However, the genitalia of the type species of Phigalia and Apocheima differ considerably. Leraut (2009) therefore rejects a synonymisation and Phigalia considered as a valid genus. Currently, three subspecies of snow tensioner can be distinguished:
- Phigalia pilosaria pilosaria that Nominatunterart, in the largest part of the range
- Phigalia pilosaria meridionalis Costantini, 1916, on average larger, with distinct shapes, Emilia -Romagna ( Italy)
- Phigalia pilosaria prostae Leraut, 1996, High Alps, on average larger and with a more gray shade.