Atethmia centrago (Haworth, 1809)


Atethmia centrago: Adult (e.l. eastern Baden-Württemberg, S-Germany, 2010) [S] Atethmia centrago: Adult (e.l. eastern Baden-Württemberg, S-Germany, 2010) [N] Atethmia centrago: Adult (e.l. N-Bavaria, Steigerwald) [S] Atethmia centrago: Young larva, eastern Baden-Württemberg, April 2010 [S] Atethmia centrago: Young larva, eastern Baden-Württemberg, April 2010 [S] Atethmia centrago: Larva (eastern Baden-Württemberg, April 2010) [M] Atethmia centrago: Larva (eastern Baden-Württemberg, April 2010) [M] Atethmia centrago: Larva (eastern Baden-Württemberg, April 2010) [S] Atethmia centrago: Larva (N-Bavaria, Steigerwald, early May) [M] Atethmia centrago: Pupa [S] Atethmia centrago: Larval habitat in eastern Baden-Württemberg in April 2010: I recorded a larva at the ash trunk. [N] Atethmia centrago: Larval habitat at an ash-rich woodland edge (northeastern Baden-Württemberg, April 2010) [N]

Host plants:
The larvae feed on ash species, especially Fraxinus excelsior.

Habitat:
Atethmia centrago inhabits riparian forests and other often warm and humid deciduous woodlands with a lot of ash, mostly below 800m above sea level. In places, it is also found in drier areas with ash, so at woody margins of stone walls.

Life cycle:
The eggs overwinter. The caterpillars live in spring until mid-May on ash trees. The young caterpillars can be collected with flowering ash branches. They hide in older instars during the day in bark crevices, under bark and moss, especially on trunk bases, drilled in rotten wood or on the ground around the tree base in the litter layer.

The moth flies only with the onset of cooler nights from mid-August to late September, though he is largely developed in the pupa already in summer.

Endangerment: regionally endangered or decreasing

Endangerment factors:
Atethmia centrago is locally endangered by intense dark forest management and displacement of light ash woods as well as the uniformization of the landscape (removal of hedges that are interspersed with ash trees). Additionally, the ash desease probably will take its tolls.

Remarks:
Atethmia centrago is widespread in Central and Southern Europe and will reches until Western Asia.



Atethmia ambusta 
German version / deutsche Version