Apeira syringaria
Lilac tensioner ( Apeira syringaria )
The lilac tensioner ( Apeira syringaria ) is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of the tensioner ( Geometridae ).
- 3.1 Flight times and caterpillars
- 4.1 Notes and references
- 4.2 Literature
Features
The lilac tensioner reaches a wingspan of 38 to 42 millimeters. The front wings are purple -gray to light reddish brown in color and more or less in Saumfeld yellowish. The inner transverse line is pink white and broken under the front edge toward the Basalfeldes. The narrow middle shade is brown and is located under the front edge of the acutely fractured outer transverse line. It runs until the middle of the inner edge and continues on the hind wings. The outer transverse line is at the leading edge of dark and pinkish white to the inner edge, which is followed by a dark dot row on the hind wings. Before the front wing tip there is a white moon pink stain. In the resting position the edges of the front wings are strangely bent upwards, giving the moth in conjunction with the wing drawing the appearance of a crumpled dry leaf.
The caterpillars of the lilac tensioner reach a length of up to 30 millimeters. Your body is stocky and tapers to the front and rear. On the seventh segment is a striking pair of curved appendages to find; smaller humps located on segments five and six. The pale ocher-colored caterpillars show a dark olive-brown or purple -brown drawing. The head capsule is gray-brown. At rest, the caterpillars do not sit stretched out like most other loopers but curved and resemble the dried fruit capsules of the lilac.
Synonyms
- Phalaena syringaria
- Hygrochroa syringaria
- Pericallia syringaria
Occurrence
The lilac tensioner is widely used in Europe. Its range extends from the British Isles in the west to Japan in the east. In the south it extends through the entire northern Mediterranean through the Balkans and Asia Minor to southern Fennoscandia.
Way of life
The lilac tensioner is to be found in shady forest edges, in groves, canyons and trenches, forest roads, firebreaks and gardens. The caterpillars live on honeysuckle and olive tree plants: Red ( Lonicera xylosteum ) and Black Honeysuckle ( Lonicera nigra), lilac (Syringa vulgaris), ash (Fraxinus spp.) And Snowberry ( Symphoricarpos spp.). More fodder plants are privet ( Ligustrum spp.) And Waldgeißblatt ( Lonicera periclymenum ). The caterpillars feed at night and rest during the day on their food plants. The caterpillars overwinter, they pupate a few web threads on a branch.
The moths are nocturnal and can occasionally be found at the light. About the food of the butterfly are so far no information is known.
Flight times and caterpillars
The lilac tensioner is a generation in which flies from early July to late July. On warm places can be formed from August to September, a partial second generation occasionally. The caterpillars can be observed in August and after hibernation in June of the following year.