Conistra rubiginosa
Box wood Wintereule ( Conistra rubiginosa )
The box wood Wintereule ( Conistra rubiginosa ), also Schwarzgefleckte Wintereule, is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of cutworms ( Noctuidae ). The type is already flying in the fall, overwinters as moths and then again from February / March. It is therefore counted among the so-called "Winter Owl ".
- 5.1 Literature
- 5.2 Notes and references
Features
Butterfly
The moth has a wingspan of 31-36 millimeters. The body is relatively slim. The front wings are relatively narrow, oblong with a pointed apex. The Saumrand is weakly curved. The base color is a relatively uniform light gray-brown to dark gray-brown. The veining is staffed with bright ocher-colored scales. Inner and outer transverse line are formed only indistinctly, often only slightly darker than the ground color. The median angled shadow agent is also often only vaguely recognizable as the cross lines colored. The basal transverse line ends median. In the root box a little black spot is often developed. The ring stain is bright edged, the dorsal half is filled with black. The kidneys blemish is also bordered bright, the black dorsal filling is usually resolved into several large black spots. The mottling may also be missing ( in the literature referred to as formative immaculate ). The front edge is busy with several indistinct limited and only slightly contrasting from the base color stains. The wavy line as the other transverse lines rises only weakly on the base color. Within the hem line, the fields between the conductors per each have a small diffuse black point. The hind wings are uniformly gray-brown with a diffuse Diskalfleck.
Egg
The egg is filled with hemispherical and irregular longitudinal lines. The Mikropylregion forms a weak hill on the egg. It is initially light yellow, light red is later. It shows a lighter, dissolving in spots binding.
Caterpillar
The top of the caterpillar is yellow-brown, the belly pale gray. The back line and the side line of the back are only vaguely formed and pale yellow. Between the ridge lines a V-shaped pattern is formed. The back is also filled with bright, black framed points. The head is light brown, the pronotum is black with yellow center line. The spiracles are black.
Doll
The doll is quite stocky and brown-red. The cremaster is busy and a truncated cone with a few short bristles.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The box wood Wintereule is located in Central and Southern Europe. In the north, the range extends to southern Fennoscandia, Lithuania and Latvia; to the east it extends into the Ukraine and western Turkey. The species occurs in forested habitats, usually deciduous or mixed forests, but also in more open habitats such as gardens and parklands. The vertical distribution is limited to the flat and hilly country, the higher elevations of the central European low mountain range be avoided. In the Alps, it rises to about 1000 feet.
Phenology and life
It makes one generation per year. The moths emerge in August and September. Place apparently after hatching several weeks of rest a. The main flight period starts from October and lasts until April, sometimes even up into May to. The winter break is incomplete and is interrupted on mild winter days. The moths fly air temperature already at 2 to 4 ° C. You suck tree sap, in the fall also on fruit or old rose hips, in the spring of pussy willow.
The caterpillars can be found in May and June. They feed on lilac (Syringa vulgaris) cultivated apple (Malus domestica), rose (Rosa sp.), Plum (Prunus domestica), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), Scotch broom ( Sarothamnus scoparius ) and heather ( Calluna vulgaris). The young caterpillars feed initially in the blossoms and buds, and later at the leaves of the food plants. They pupate in a cocoon in the soil.
Endangering
The species is in Germany quite often and only regionally endangered ( Mecklenburg -Western Pomerania and Saarland), in North Rhine -Westphalia, it is even endangered.