Hyles vespertilio
Caterpillar of hawkmoth bat
The bat -moth ( Hyles vespertilio ) is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of moth ( Sphingidae ). The very heat-loving nature, preferably on dry gravel hallways and living on the banks of dry river beds in the summer is probably already extinct by habitat destruction in Germany. You may be confused because of its monochrome gray top with no other Schwärmerart. The species is essentially over large parts of central Europe and the Balkans and Asia Minor spread to the Caucasus.
- 6.1 Notes and references
- 6.2 Literature
Features
The moths reach wingspans of 60 to 80 millimeters. The tops of the front wings and the entire body top are solid color slate gray. The basal hind wings are reddish - pink and the outer edge faded dark colored. There are known two forms, f salmonea lacks the red coloration on the hind wings, f flava is black and has yellow hind wings. In the French Alps, natural hybrids may be observed between it and the sea buckthorn -moth ( Hyles Hippophaes ).
The caterpillars reach a body length of 70 to 80 millimeters. After hatching, the caterpillars are three to four millimeters long, have a greenish- yellow color and carry several longitudinal rows of fine black dots. After their first food of the color changes rapidly to green, with yellowish white longitudinal lines on both sides of the back and are deeply visible on the sides of the body. The back lines are constructed much wider. The Analhorn is regressed to a small extension or missing entirely. In the second larval instar, the pale longitudinal lines change color to a creamy yellow. The green color of the body, especially on the sides of the body, complemented by fine yellow dots. In the next stage, these issues emerge more clearly, especially in the dark olive green colored caterpillars rarely occur. The longitudinal lines may be interrupted by an orange point on each segment. In the olive crawler this is the rule, also the color changes to dark brown.
The basic color of the caterpillar is changing after the third stage gradually to a gray-brown, the longitudinal lines are then gräulichgelb and are interrupted by dark, yellow orange cored eye patch. The darker back is then covered with many small brown spots. The sides of the body are lighter and take between the two longitudinal lines numerous whitish-yellow spots. The belly, the thoracic and abdominal legs, the Nachschieber and head are colored purple. When full-grown caterpillars dark -rimmed eye patch and the ground color of the body are pale gray-brown. Also shortly before pupation, these coloring changed only slightly.
Distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the bat enthusiast includes a relatively small area in the southwest of the Palearctic. Deposits are found in the following areas: Southern and eastern France, southern Germany ( in the Upper Rhine area ), Switzerland, Austria, Northern and Central Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, eastern Poland, western Ukraine, western Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, South and Central Serbia, the north of Albania, western and southern Bulgaria and northern Greece. Another occurrence extends across western Turkey eastwards to Transcaucasia. In the mountainous region of Lebanon is home to a small isolated population.
The animals are in contrast to the other members of the genus -migratory and live in the distribution area in each separated populations. They inhabit warm and dry gravel corridors and prefer this sunlit, south-facing gravel slopes and gravel banks on the banks of dry river beds in the summer. But one can find in the absence of such habitats in gravel pits or on canal banks of Altauen if there grow their food crops. One finds the kind in Central Europe up to an altitude of about 1,700 meters, in warmer regions are even higher.
Way of life
The moths are very close in foraging, mating and flight strongly the spurge hawkmoth ( Hyles euphorbiae ), but sit down to rest mainly on stones and pebbles on the ground, where they are perfectly camouflaged by their coloring. They are nocturnal, can already be observed shortly after dawn and fly with breaks usually for several hours.
Flight times and caterpillars
In the majority of its range the species is flying in a generation in May and June and a second partial in August and September. In the higher regions of Central Europe and Bulgaria's only one generation flies in June and July. The caterpillars are in June and July, and to find again in September.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed mainly on fireweed (Epilobium ), in particular Alpine Willowherb (Epilobium dodonaei ), besides also of evening primrose (Oenothera ) and rarely also of Labkräutern ( Galium ).
Development
The pale green glossy eggs are 1.1 x 1.0 millimeters long and flattened on the longer side of something. They are individually by the females or in pairs stored in the stems, leaves or flowers of the food plants, very rarely they can also be found on rocks near the plants. Maximum total of 10 eggs are laid per plant. Small areas can occur in high density caterpillars, especially in larger stocks of food plants. Young caterpillars feed initially during the day sitting on the leaf underside. The animals leave initially never, later to the fourth larval instar rarely the plant. From this stage the animals hide during the day on a regular basis at the base of the plant between or under rocks and climb only at night to feed upwards. You can curl up and look like a pebble deceptively similar. Are they active during the day, they move very quickly and eat only a few minutes or go in a hurry the roost. Pupation takes place on the ground in a fine-mesh cocoon in the small pebbles and sand or plant parts and droppings are installed. In most cases you will find the dolls off the food plants under sun-exposed stones. They are 35 to 40 millimeters long and pale red-brown, the elytra and parts of the head have a greenish brown color. They are in shape to that of the Labkrautschwärmers ( Hyles gallii ) almost identical. The pupae overwinter.
When the parasitoid tachinid Masicera is sphingivora known. Not infrequently up to 80 percent of the caterpillars are attacked at a site of this kind.
Threats and conservation
The bat moth is " critically endangered " in Germany in the red list of threatened species as (Category 1) classified. However, it is believed that he is already extinct. According to Ebert, the kind in Germany in the 1980s was only by individual, although regular finds in Baden- Württemberg known, recent findings are not available. In Germany, the disappearance of the species is mainly due to the sheeting, the straightening and the water level regulation of rivers, thereby generating natural gravel banks was permanently prevented. Secondary habitats with gravel soils, which were created about by construction activity, disappear by overgrowth after a few years, so they can not compensate for permanent loss.