Lycia zonaria
Dry grasslands thick body tensioner ( Lycia zonaria ), male
The dry grass thick body tensioner ( Lycia zonaria ) is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of the tensioner ( Geometridae ).
- 6.1 Notes and references
- 6.2 Literature
Features
Butterfly
The male moths reach a wingspan of 27-34 millimeters. The forewings are gray brown and show very contrasting white transverse lines that frame the Postdiskalregion. In addition, a white, often wedge-shaped longitudinal line runs parallel to the front edge. The hind wings shimmer in the base color of the fore wings, but are paler colored and also show bright lines cross. The sensors are combed.
The flightless females have only about two to three millimeters long, pointed wing stub, a plump body shape and a gray- brown color with reddish hair. The intermediate spaces of the abdomen rings are lighter.
Egg
The egg is greenish, yellowish or whitish in color. Before hatching, the caterpillar is bluish shimmer.
Caterpillar
Adults caterpillars show a gray-green or blue-gray ground color and are covered with black dots. Striking is a wide yellow side stripes, which is bounded above by a black line.
Doll
The doll has a red-brown color and a forked tip at the conical cremaster.
Similar Species
- In the Alps tensioner ( Lycia alpina) drawing the wings of the males is less contrast, the white wedge in the middle of the front wing missing
Geographical distribution and occurrence
The dry grass thick body clamp is spread through central Europe to Russia. The populations occur at a few places in England and Wales are as ssp. britannica, those from the Urals as ssp. rossica called. The nominate form is found in the southwest of Spain and France, but missing in the Mediterranean. The northern deposits extends to Denmark and southern Sweden. The species is a typical inhabitant of dry grasslands, but also occurs at the edges of forests, sandy slopes and moors.
Way of life
The moths form a generation a year and live mainly in March and April, sometimes until well into May. The males visit artificial light sources, the females are found usually in the vegetation stems dormant. The diurnal caterpillars can be encountered by May to July. They live polyphagous on a wide variety of low plants. These include Meadow Sage (Salvia pratensis), field wormwood (Artemisia campestris ), sickle- clover ( Medicago sativa ) and birdsfoot trefoil ( Lotus ), Knapweed (Centaurea ), yarrow (Achillea ) and Esparsettenarten ( Onobrychis ). The species overwinters as a pupa.
Endangering
The dry grass thick body clamp is guided on the Red List of endangered species in Category 2 ( high risk ), is threatened or have disappeared in some German Länder of extinction. Through intensive fertilization of meadows, the habitat of the species is increasingly restricted.
Synonyms
- Biston zonaria
- Nyssia zonaria