Butterfly lemongrass - description, habitat, species

Quite often in the summer, you can find a butterfly with a very attractive and bright color of its wings, reminiscent of the sun or lemon. This is lemongrass. Included in the family of whitefish, which has about 150 species of different diurnal butterflies. Most often limonnits can be found on large glades, meadows or in some park.

Description

Sometimes limonnitsa is called springgrass for its love of buckthorn leaves. Relatives of this kind can be considered a cabbage soup familiar to all, as well as a repn. There is no harm to limbs bowl to healthy crops. As already mentioned, they mostly eat buckthorn leaves. Each representative of the species has a medium size and wingspan, reaching 60 mm. The head of the limb is round with faceted eyes and a sucking type of oral apparatus.At the ends of the long antennae there are thickenings with the so-called maces.

1. The males. Each male member of the genus on the rear and front wings has a sharp angle. Also worth noting is their intense color. For example, the wings of the male have a rich yellow color.
2. Females The color of females is much paler and is not as noticeable as in males. The wings have a light greenish tint rather than a rich lemon. The females in the wing have a small orange spot. And the chest and abdomen are trimmed with light hairs.
3. Larvae. Presented in the form of caterpillars. The color of each larva is saturated green. Below there is a light strip. On the body there are also small specks of dark color, each of which has a thorn. The oral apparatus is designed to eat the leaves. The legs are walking and have a yellow tint.

Kinds of relatives

Habitat

It lives in lemongrass in almost all corners of Europe. Among the most visited countries are Austria, the UK, Sweden, Belgium and Norway. Representatives of this kind can be found in the expanses of Africa or Asia Minor. Regarding Eastern Europe, they have spread over fairly long distances.

Butterflies prefer to be in the bush or somewhere nearby. Rare forests, small meadows, green parks or gardens are the choice of Limonits. They can also be found in the mountains.

Lifestyle

The smallbird is practically a long-liver compared to the rest of the butterflies of the European continent. The life expectancy of this butterfly comes to a whole year. During this time one generation can develop. The peak of their fertility is observed from the end of March to the beginning of October. The most active months are March, April, May and August.

The magnonies show the greatest liveliness in the sundial. In such a warm and clear time, they either fly in search of nectar, or settle down on the bushes, spread their wings and catch the sun's rays. Thus, they are stored with heat and solar energy for the following flights.When evening comes, butterflies begin to diligently search for a place to spend the night. After a brief search, they usually choose ivy.

In order not to spend a lot of energy on constant flights, butterflies periodically make diapause. During diapause, there is a slowdown in metabolism and various processes in the body of the limb. In winter, butterflies look for a place where they can survive the frost. During this time, glycerin and polypeptides are additionally produced in their bodies.

Each species has an excellent disguise. Wings that resemble sharp leaves serve this. This feature allows limb units to hide from enemies during diapause.

Nutrition

The imago prefers to eat the nectar of plants, and most often it is possible to meet limonnitsa at some flower. Favorite delicacies have become wild plant species, but at times, butterflies may prefer cultivated plants. Among the flowers, whose nectar is collected by imago, you can list dandelion, cornflower, Sivec, thistle, etc. Thanks to the size of the proboscis, the limbgrass can quite deeply dig in the flower, which other butterflies cannot do.

It is worth noting that the herb plant is chosen in color and prefer flowers with rich red or blue shades.

As for the feeding of the larvae, plants from the rush family are used as food. Usually the caterpillar eats the upper part of the leaf. However, the newly hatched prefer to start from the middle.

Breeding

Limonnits mate in the spring months. Since the winter is a way to survive both sexes, there are no problems with the presence of males or females in the spring. The first to wake up the males. They will have to divide the glades, distribute the plots and wait for the female to wake up. Grooming a female is a mating ritual. At first, the male flies after his partner, you can say, pursuing her throughout the journey. And in the end both of them find some kind of bush, descend on it and complete the mating process.

After successful mating, the female will lay eggs. The shape of each egg is conical. With the help of a sticky secret, they are attached to the plant and kept upright.Usually on each leaf a butterfly can lay 1-2 eggs, not more. Sometimes the larvae can also be found on the buds or on the stems of buckthorn. In total, during the breeding season, the female can lay up to 100 eggs. The masonry matures within two weeks, and after maturation, a 1.7 mm larva appears from there. She has 5 more ages to achieve full development.

The development of the larvae

As soon as a second molt occurs in the caterpillar, small bumps and light hair begin to appear on the body. Each hair has a bead with a constantly emitting drop of orange liquid. When the caterpillar reaches the fifth age, its size is 35 mm. All this time it is on the leaves of buckthorn and eats them daily.

At the time of development affect:

• Environmental conditions.
• Temperature indicators.

For example, the larva will grow faster in dry weather.

Pupation occurs after four weeks from the onset of the larva. And most often pupae are formed in July. The cocoon of each pupa reaches 23 mm and has a yellow-green color. Within two weeks, the process of turning the caterpillar into a butterfly. As soon as the shell burst, and the butterfly appeared, it needs some time to hang vertically in order to strengthen and spread the wings.

Total, from eggs to butterflies takes about fifty days.

The smallbird is a rather popular butterfly, which is not threatened with extinction. Every year there are a sufficient number of individuals, exceeding in the number of annual losses due to cutting of bushes.

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