Euplagia quadripunctaria
Russian Bear ( Euplagia quadripunctaria )
The Russian bear or the Spanish flag ( Euplagia quadripunctaria ) is a butterfly (moth ) from the subfamily of the tiger moths ( Arctiinae ).
Description
The moths reach a wingspan of 42-52 millimeters. They have blue-black forewing with white or yellowish stripes. These form at the wing tips a distinctive "V". The orange hind wings have three to four black spots. Unlike other bears spinners they have a well-trained proboscis that enables them to suck nectar from flowers.
The caterpillars are about 50 mm long. They are black gray and have a yellow back line. In addition, they have white spots on the sides and everywhere reddish- brown wart with short, bright bristles.
Occurrence
They come in Southern and Central Europe, north to the resin before and prefer rocky, chalky terrain, such as quarries, river and stream edges, dry grasslands and rocky valleys and slopes. They can be found in sunny, dry as well as wet, halbschattigem terrain. The moths fly in one generation from July to September. They are not common, but in some years locally numerous. Where Buddleia or agrimony flowers, the Russian bear is a regular guest. Gladly, the extremely quiet butterfly basks in bright walls, but it keeps the blades closed.
A large population is located on the Greek island of Rhodes. She is there its name to the Petaloudes ( Butterfly Valley ), which due to the numerous resin rich Oriental sweetgum (Liquidambar orientalis) attracts the butterflies and animated for reproduction. The Petaloudes became famous Israeli satirist Ephraim Kishon, who in one of his books could not believe that in this valley butterflies are actually to be found.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars eat leaves of a variety of plants such as:
- Dead-nettle ( Lamium spp.)
- Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)
- Salad Burnet ( Sanguisorba minor)
- Hazel (Corylus spp.)
- Raspberry (Rubus idaeus )
- Genuine blackberry (Rubus fruticosus )
- Meadow Sage (Salvia pratensis)
- Fuchs cal ragwort ( Senecio fuchsii )
The young caterpillars feed mainly on herbs, later they also eat the woody plants.
Development
The females lay their eggs loosely side by side under the leaves of forage plants. The caterpillars hatch in September and overwinter before they pupate in June of the following year in a soft, white-gray cocoon on the ground. After about a month, the moths hatch.