Phragmatiphila nexa
Water swath Röhrichteule ( Phragmatiphila nexa )
The water swath Röhrichteule ( Phragmatiphila nexa ) is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of cutworms ( Noctuidae ).
Features
The wingspan of the butterfly is 18 to 30 millimeters, the females are considerably larger than the males. The short front wings have a reddish brown from light to dark reddish brown varying coloration. Very striking and characteristic are the whitish or yellowish stain kidneys, which are expanded in the form of a broad L. In contrast, the bright ring blemishes are very small and punctiform, sometimes missing altogether. In Saumfeld dark bulging veins are visible. Waves and transverse lines are missing. The midfield is usually somewhat more intensely colored, the hind wings are gray-brown. Again, the dark veins stand out from the background. The off-white colored caterpillar has indistinct, reddish side ridge lines and each side blackish stripes, point warts and stigmas.
Synonyms
- Nonagria nexa
Geographical distribution and habitat
The water swath Röhrichteule comes in Central Europe but spread very locally before. In the north of the occurrence to Denmark, southern Sweden and southern Finland ranges, west to northern and central France, in the south to Switzerland, Northern Italy, Austria and southern Hungary, in the east to Poland, the Baltic States and the European part of the former Soviet Union and to Western Siberia. In addition, there are isolated occurrences in central Italy, Sardinia and Corsica. It is tied to damp areas, and preferably peat meadows, marshes, moss forests and riparian areas with reed beds.
Way of life
The species is univoltine, meaning it only one generation per year will be created. The moths fly relatively late in the year and although used by mid-August to mid-September. They are crepuscular and nocturnal. In the evening they fly fast and low among the plants on wet terrain. Occasionally they visit artificial light sources, but avoid bait, because they have a vestigial proboscis. The caterpillars feed preferentially from the marsh sedge ( Carex acutiformis ) of water vapors ( Glyceria maxima), common reed (Phragmites australis ) and other marsh grasses, in whose stems they eat and live. They usually pupate between plant parts on the ground, sometimes in the stems of forage plants unless the soil is very wet or under water. Whether done as an egg or young caterpillar overwintering has yet to be clarified, as it is in the literature on this topic, different information.
Endangering
The water swath Röhrichteule in Germany comes in many federal states, but is usually rare and is on the Red List of endangered species in category 3 ( endangered) classified.