Brown Hairstreak

Nierenfleck - Hairstreak ( Thecla betulae ), male

The Nierenfleck - Hairstreak ( Thecla betulae ), also called birch Hairstreak is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of the Lycaenidae ( Lycaenidae ).

Features

Upper hand, the wings are dark brown with orange spots in Analwinkel, the females also bear the eponymous large kidney-shaped spots on the forewings. On the orange-brown wing underside are white framed, saber tooth shaped, dark orange-brown spots that show from the top edge toward lower margin. A Submarginalbinde is blurred and, without black dots. The Kidney spot Hairstreak can hardly be confused at best with other tip moths, but the differences are clear ( " saber-toothed drawing " ) and leave a photographic proof to.

Flight time

Thecla betulae is univoltine, ie it produces only one generation, the flies from late July to October.

Habitat

Schlehengebüsch, deciduous forest edges, even fruit trees are sometimes inhabited.

Way of life

Forage plants are shrubs of the rose family, especially Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), plum (Prunus domestica subsp. Domestica) and other Prunus species. The indication of birch (Betula ) as forage plants is wrong, according Bellmann.

The showy white eggs are laid singly or in pairs next to the buds of forage crops. The caterpillars hatch just before the leaves and eat into the still closed bud inside. After that, they usually sit on the underside of leaves, where they are difficult to detect. When they have reached their full size, they migrate to the ground and turn into the leaf litter in a brown doll with dark speckles.

The doll is maintained by Tolman and Lewington from the black garden ant ( Lasius niger). The moths wander and visit sometimes thistles, Ebert gives the moth food plant as unexplained.

Dissemination

Thecla betulae is spread from Spain to Asia to Korea. To the north, the species is found to Südfennoskandinavien. In places, the species is now under threat from land clearing and unilateral Entbuschung of poor grass.

Swell