Zygaena fausta

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Zygaena fausta
(MHNT) Zygaena fausta fausta - Amiel Tarn France - male.jpg
Male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Zygaenidae
Genus: Zygaena
Species:
Z. fausta
Binomial name
Zygaena fausta
(Linnaeus, 1767)
Synonyms
  • Sphinx faustaLinnaeus, 1767
  • Zygaena faustinaOchsenheimer, 1908
  • Zygaena baeticaRamburs, 1839
  • Zygaena faustulaRambur, 1866
  • Zygaena mauritanicaMabille, 1885
  • Anthocera mabilleiKirby, 1892
  • Zyganea fausta v. murciensisReiss, 1922
  • Zygaena gibraltaricaTremewan, 1961
  • Zygaena almericaBurgeff, 1963
  • Zygaena aitanaeBurgeff & Klaue, 1968
  • Zygaena resenderBurgeff, 1969
Zygaena fausta Zygaena October 2008-1.jpg
Zygaena fausta
Zygaena fausta Zygaena fausta1.jpg
Zygaena fausta
Mating pair of Zygaena fausta showing the tail-to-tail position and sexual dimorphism Mating Pair of Zygaena fausta Burnet moths.jpg
Mating pair of Zygaena fausta showing the tail-to-tail position and sexual dimorphism
Zygaena fausta taking off, showing the bright red abdomen and eye spots on the thorax Zygaena fausta Burnet moth flapping wings after rain.jpg
Zygaena fausta taking off, showing the bright red abdomen and eye spots on the thorax

Zygaena fausta is a member of the family Zygaenidae, the day-flying burnet moths. Its bright aposematic colours of red, white and black on the wings indicate to possible predators such as birds that it is foul tasting or poisonous. In flight, the bright red abdomen is revealed, contrasting with the white legs and black head and antennae; the thorax is black and white with an eye spot on each side (see image). There appears to be a considerable variation in pattern among specimens from different parts of Europe.

Contents

The southwest of Europe is home to Zygaena fausta. The moth can be found from Spain and Southern Portugal to Western Austria and Southern Germany, northeast to Thuringia, and southeast to North-western Italy. [1]

It is rare or absent from Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, where related species include the similarly aposematic five-spot burnet and the six-spot burnet. [2]

The caterpillar (larva) is dark grey with a black line above a line of white interrupted by yellow bands. The caterpillar's food plants are vetches of the genus Coronilla . [3]

The adults often visit a wide range of flowers including knapweed and eryngo. Typical habitat is dry chalk grassland. Adults fly throughout the summer from April or May until October. The sexes are similar but not identical (see image); mating takes place by day on isolated plants.

Subspecies

References

  1. "European Lepidoptera and their ecology: Zygaena fausta". www.pyrgus.de. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  2. SoortenBank.nl, ETI BioInformatics, http://www.soortenbank.nl/soorten.php?soortengroep=insecten&id=1062
  3. Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa, by Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfili, Ilaria Pimpinelli, Diego Reggianti. http://www.leps.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/ZygaeLaeta.htm