The six-spot burnet (''Zygaena filipendulae'') is a day-flying

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Zygaenidae The Zygaenidae moths are a family of Lepidoptera. The majority of zygaenids are tropical, but they are nevertheless quite well represented in temperate regions. Some of the 1000 or so species are commonly known as burnet or forester moths, ofte ...

Subspecies

*''Z. f. altapyrenaica'' Le Charles, 1950 *''Z. f. arctica'' Schneider, 1880 *''Z. f. balcanirosea'' Holik, 1943 *''Z. f. campaniae'' Rebel, 1901 *''Z. f. duponcheli'' Verity, 1921 *''Z. f. filipendulae'' *''Z. f. gemella'' Marten, 1956 *''Z. f. gemina'' Burgeff, 1914 *''Z. f. gigantea'' Rocci, 1913 *''Z. f. himmighofeni'' Burgeff, 1926 *''Z. f. liguris'' Rocci, 1925 *''Z. f. maior'' Esper, 1794 *''Z. f. mannii'' Herrich-Schaffer, 1852 *''Z. f. noacki'' Reiss, 1962 *''Z. f. oberthueriana'' Burgeff, 1926 *''Z. f. polygalae'' (Esper, 1783) *''Z. f. praeochsenheimeri'' Verity, 1939 *''Z. f. pulcherrima'' Verity, 1921 *''Z. f. pulcherrimastoechadis'' Verity, 1921 *''Z. f. pyrenes'' Verity, 1921 *''Z. f. seeboldi'' Oberthur, 1910 *''Z. f. siciliensis'' Verity, 1917 *''Z. f. stephensi'' Dupont, 1900 *''Z. f. stoechadis'' (Borkhausen, 1793) *''Z. f. zarana'' Burgeff, 1926

Distribution

''Zygaena filipendulae'' is a common species throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, except the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, northern Scandinavia and the Great Russian North. It is also present in Asia, from Anatolia through the Caucasus to Syria and Lebanon.

Habitat

This species can be found in meadows, woodland clearings, sea-cliffs and area rich in grasses and flowers, up to 2,000 m altitude.

Description

''Zygaena filipendulae'' has a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

of . The sexes are similar. The fore wings are dark metallic green with six vivid red spots (sometimes the spots are merged causing possible confusion with other species such as the five-spot burnet. Occasionally, the spots are yellow or even black. The hind wings are red with a blackish fringe. The larva is plump and hairy with variable markings, usually pale green with rows of black spots. It is an

aposematic Aposematism is the Advertising in biology, advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predation, predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the pr ...

moth because it is distinguished by its colors as toxic to predators like birds and lizards. If attacked it emits a liquid containing cyanide.

Biology

The adults fly on hot, sunny days from June to August, and are attracted to a wide variety of

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s such as

knapweed ''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding ...

and scabious, as well as the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

l food plants

bird's foot trefoil ''Lotus corniculatus'' is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoil (a name also often applied to other ''Lotus'' spp.). It ha ...

, '' Coronilla'' and

clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

. The species overwinters as a larva. The larva

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

tes in early summer in a papery cocoon attached to a grass stem.First Nature
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Lifecycle

File: Zygaena filipendulae 02 (HS).jpg, Eggs File: Zygaena filipendulae caterpillar.jpg, Caterpillar File:Zygaena filipendulae - Puppe 03 (HS).JPG, Cocoon File: Zygaenidae - Zygaena filipendulae (Pupa).JPG, Pupa (cocoon removed) File: Six-spot Burnet Moth (Zygaena filipendulae) - geograph.org.uk - 928302.jpg, Adult

Bibliography

*C. M. Naumann, G. M. Tarmann, W. G. Tremewan: The Western Palaearctic Zygaenidae. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, 1999, *Capinera, J. L. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Entomology, 4 voll., 2nd Ed., Dordrecht, Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2008, pp. lxiii + 4346, *Chinery, Michael. ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe'' 1986. (reprinted 1991). *Kükenthal, W. (Ed.), Handbuch der Zoologie / Handbook of Zoology, Band 4: Arthropoda - 2. Hälfte: Insecta - Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies, in Kristensen, N. P., Handbuch der Zoologie, Fischer, M. (Scientific Editor), Teilband/Part 35: Vol. 1: Evolution, systematics, and biogeography, Berlino, New York, Walter de Gruyter, 1999

998 Year 998 ( CMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Otto III retakes Rome and restores power in the papal city. Crescentius II (the Younger) and his followers ...

pp. x + 491, *Scoble, M. J., The Lepidoptera: Form, Function and Diversity, seconda edizione, London, Oxford University Press & Natural History Museum, 2011

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as far south as Germany and Korea. Euro ...

pp. xi, 404, *Skinner, Bernard.''Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles'' 1984. *Stehr, F. W. (Ed.), Immature Insects, 2 volumi, seconda edizione, Dubuque, Iowa, Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co., 1991 987 pp. ix, 754, *

Notes

References

External links

Funet
Taxonomy
Lepiforum.de

Lepinet.fr
{{Taxonbar, from=Q161497 Zygaena Moths described in 1758 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Zygaenoidea