The scarlet tiger moth (''Callimorpha dominula'', formerly ''Panaxia dominula'') is a colorful moth belonging to the tiger moth subfamily,
Arctiinae
The Arctiinae (formerly called the family Arctiidae) are a large and diverse subfamily of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species.Scoble, MJ. (1995). ''The Lepidoptera: Form, Function and D ...
. The species was
first described by
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
in his 1758
10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.
Subspecies
Subspecies within this species include:
* ''Callimorpha dominula dominula''
(Linnaeus, 1758) (Baltic, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, western Russia and central Europe)
* ''Callimorpha dominula lusitanica''
Staudinger, 1894 (Portugal)
* ''Callimorpha dominula pompalis''
Nitsche, 926
Year 926 ( CMXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – The Italian nobles turn against King Rudolph II of Burgundy and request that ...
/small> (valleys of the southern Alps)
* ''Callimorpha dominula persona'' (Hübner, 1790) (Italy south of the Alps, excluding Piedmont and southern Alpine valleys)
* ''Callimorpha dominula trinacriae'' Nardelli & Giandolfo, 1996 (Sicily)
* ''Callimorpha dominula profuga'' (Goeze, 1781) (Balkans: Macedonia (Scopje); Albania; Greece; western Turkey)
* ''Callimorpha dominula rossica'' Kolenati, 1846 (Caucasus, Transcaucasia, except Talysh Mountains; north-western Iran)
* ''Callimorpha dominula philippsi'' Bartel, 1906 (Talysh Mountains, northern Iran, southern Turkmenistan)
* ''Callimorpha dominula kurdistanica'' Thomas, 1983 (south-eastern Turkey, possibly Iraq)
Distribution and habitat
This species is present in most of Europe and in the
Near East (
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
,
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...
and northern
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
).
[ These moths prefer damp areas (wet meadows, river banks, fens and marshes), but they also can be found on rocky cliffs close to the sea.]["''Callimorpha'' [''Panaxia''] ''dominula'' (Linnaeus 1758) (Family Erebidae)"]
''The Ecology of Commanster''.
Description
''Callimorpha dominula'' has a wingspan of . Adults of this species are quite variable in color. The forewings usually have a metallic-green sheen on the blackish areas, with white and yellow or orange markings. Hindwings are red with three large and irregular black markings. These moths may also occur in rare color forms, one with yellow hindwings and body and one with extended black on hindwings. The thorax is black glossed with green and shows two longitudinal short yellow stripes. The abdomen is black. The scarlet tiger moth has developed mouthparts, that allow it to feed on nectar.
Biology
The imagines are active during the day in May and June. This species has a single generation. The caterpillars are polyphagous. They mainly feed on comfrey
''Symphytum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae, known by the common name comfrey (pronounced ). There are 59 recognized species.WFO (2022): Symphytum L. Published on the Internet; http://www.worldfloraonline.org/ ...
(''Symphytum officinale''), but also on a number of other plants (''Urtica
''Urtica'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Urticaceae. Many species have stinging hairs and may be called nettles or stinging nettles, although the latter name applies particularly to '' Urtica dioica''.
''Urtica'' species are food ...
'', ''Cynoglossum
''Cynoglossum'' is a genus of small-flowered plants in the family Boraginaceae (borage family).
''Cynoglossum officinale'', the common hound's-tongue, is a native of Asia, Africa, and Europe. It has been introduced into North America, and it is ...
'', '' Fragaria'', '' Fraxinus'', '' Geranium'', ''Lamium
''Lamium'' (dead-nettles) is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, of which it is the type genus. They are all herbaceous plants native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, but several have become very successf ...
'', ''Lonicera
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both contin ...
'', ''Myosotis
''Myosotis'' ( ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. The name comes from the Ancient Greek "mouse's ear", which the foliage is thought to resemble. In the northern hemisphere they are colloquially known as forget-me-no ...
'', '' Populus'', ''Prunus
''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, Cherry, cherries, peaches, Peach#Nectarine, nectarines, apricots, and almonds.
Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of Sou ...
'', ''Ranunculus
''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.
The genus is distributed in Europe ...
'', ''Rubus
''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species.
Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of the ...
'', ''Salix
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
'' and ''Ulmus
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nor ...
'' species).[
The three morphs occurring in the population at the Cothill reserve in Oxfordshire, ]Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, have been the subject of considerable genetic study (McNamara 1998), including research by E. B. Ford, Ronald Fisher
Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. For his work in statistics, he has been described as "a genius who ...
and Denis Owen
Denis Frank Owen (4 April 1931 – 3 October 1996) was a British ecologist, naturalist, author, broadcaster and teacher.
Education
Denis Owen was born in London. He was a student at Roan Grammar School in Greenwich, which he left when he was 1 ...
. Don McNamara (1998) describes how amateurs can rear this species.[McNamara, Don (1998)]
"Notes on rearing the Scarlet Tiger moth ''Callimorpha dominula'' (L.)"
''Amateur Entomologists' Society''.
Gallery
File:Callimorpha dominula eggs.jpg, Eggs
File:Arctiidae - Callimorpha dominula-2.JPG, Caterpillar
File:Callimorpha dominula chrysalis.jpg, Chrysalis
File:Arctiidae - Callimorpha dominula.JPG, Imago
Bibliography
* Dubatolov, V. V. (2010) "Tiger-moths of Eurasia (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) (Nyctemerini by Rob de Vos & Vladimir V. Dubatolov)". ''Neue Entomologische Nachrichten''. 65: 1–106.
* Fisher, R. A. & Ford, E. B. (1947)
"The spread of a gene in natural conditions in a colony of the moth ''Panaxia dominula'' L."
''Heredity''. 1: 143–174.
* Fisher, R. A. & Ford, E. B. (1950). "The 'Sewall Wright' effect". ''Heredity''. 4: 117–119.
* Ford, E. B. & Sheppard, P. M. (1969). "The medionigra polymorphism of ''Panaxia dominula''". ''Heredity''. 24: 112–134.
* Kettlewell, H. B. D. (1943). "A survey of the insect ''Panaxia'' (''Callimorpha'') ''dominula'', L.". ''Proceedings of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society''. 1942-43 (pt. 1): 1-49, pl. I-IV, IVa.
* Kettlewell, H. B. D. (1943) "Original descriptions of new forms of ''Panaxia (Callimorpha) dominula'', L., and ''Panaxia rossica'', Kolenati". ''The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation''. 55: 45–48.
* Nardelli, U. & Giandolfo, B. (1996). "Anmerkungen uber die siziliansche Population von ''Callimorpha dominula'' L. mit Bschreibung einer neuen Untrart (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae)" bservations on the population of ''Callimorpha dominula'' L. from Sicily, with description of a new subspecies (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) ''Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins, Apollo, N.F.'' 17 (3): 283–299.
* Sheppard, P. M. (1951). "A quantitive study of two populations of the moth ''Panaxia dominula'' (L.)". ''Heredity''. 5: 349–378.
* Sheppard, P. M. (1952). "A note on non-random mating in the moth ''Panaxia dominula'' L.". ''Heredity''. 5 349–378.
* Sheppard, P. M. & Cook, L. M. (1962). "The manifold effects of the medionigra gene of the moth ''Panaxia dominula'' and the maintenance of polymorphism". ''Heredity''. 17: 415–426.
* Wright, S. (1948). "On the roles of directed and random changes in the frequency of genetics of populations". ''Evolution''. 2: 279–294.
* Thomas, W. (1983) "Eine neue ''Callimorpha dominula'' – Unterart aus der Osttürkei (Lep.: Arctiidae)". ''Entomologische Zeitschrift''. 93 (8): 107–110. the animals are colorful
References
External links
"10603 ''Callimorpha dominula'' (Linnaeus, 1758) - Schönbär"
''Lepiforum e.V.''
''Portal für Schmetterlinge und Raupen''.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1478584
Callimorphina
Moths described in 1758
Moths of Europe
Moths of Asia
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus