The land carder butterfly with its two different-looking generations per year was voted "Insect of the Year 2023". In spring, the butterflies are brown-orange in colour. The summer generation has white bands and yellowish spots. The land carder takes its name from the strongly veined pattern on the underside of its wings. The land carder occurs here in two annual generations, which are very different in appearance. In spring, bright brown-orange coloured butterflies hatch from the pupae. The butterflies that hatch in summer have a basic colour of black with white bands and pale spots. The wingspan of the land carder is three to four centimetres. There is no difference between males and females. The so-called seasonal dimorphism is mainly controlled by the duration of daylight during pupation.
Temperature also plays a role. If the pupa is exposed to shorter daylight hours in winter, a butterfly of the yellow-brown spring generation will develop. If the days are longer in summer, black moths develop. For a long time, even experts considered the two generations to be different species. The summer generation is always much more numerous than the spring generation, as only some of the pupae survive the winter. The spring land moths hatch from mid-April and can then be found sucking nectar until around mid-June, mostly on woodland edges, in damp woodlands and floodplains, on blackthorn or hawthorn bushes and on chickweed, buttercups and marsh marigolds. From the beginning of July to the end of August, the summer generation can be seen mainly on hogweed, angelica, meadow chervil, wild carrot and many other white thorny flowers. The females lay eight to ten green eggs in the form of small egg towers on the underside of nettle leaves. These egg turrets distinguish the land carder from all other native butterflies. It prefers shady stands of nettles along forest paths or graves. Less frequently, the eggs are laid under nettles, under fruit trees and in gardens. The eggs hatch into black caterpillars with numerous dark spines. The caterpillar is 22 millimetres long and is easily recognisable with two thorns on its head among the caterpillars found on nettles. The caterpillars stay in groups about 20 to 30 centimetres below the tip of the shoot, so that nettles inhabited by land carpets are always eaten bare in the middle. The leaves at the top and bottom remain untouched. Depending on the time of year, either the butterflies of the summer generation emerge from the pupae after two to three weeks, or the animals overwinter as pupae and only emerge the following year as the spring generation. Land carpets are found throughout temperate Europe and Asia, from France to Japan. If you want to do something for the moths in your own garden, you should leave the nettles in semi-shady locations. There, caterpillars and pupae can develop undisturbed. Proximity to nectar plants is also important, as land carpets do not travel long distances.
Like most insects, the land carpenter is useful for our ecosystem. For this reason, we want to protect insects, but not have them in our homes, where many an insect can get lost. Our INSEKTUM insect protection systems protect you and the insects that are important to us all. We offer you numerous customised variants, e.g. insect screens for your home. Windows, Pleated blindsa Swing door for your terrace, Roller blinds, Light well covers etc.
If we have aroused your interest in customised insect screens, please contact your local specialist company, who will be happy to advise you free of charge and without obligation at your home. We look forward to hearing from you!
