Zygaena fausta

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.

Zygaena fausta
Male
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Zygaenidae
Genus:	Zygaena
Species:	Z. fausta
Binomial name
Zygaena fausta (Linnaeus, 1767)
Synonyms
Sphinx fausta Linnaeus, 1767 Zygaena faustina Ochsenheimer, 1908 Zygaena baetica Ramburs, 1839 Zygaena faustula Rambur, 1866 Zygaena mauritanica Mabille, 1885 Anthocera mabillei Kirby, 1892 Zyganea fausta v. murciensis Reiss, 1922 Zygaena gibraltarica Tremewan, 1961 Zygaena almerica Burgeff, 1963 Zygaena aitanae Burgeff & Klaue, 1968 Zygaena resender Burgeff, 1969

Zygaena fausta

Zygaena fausta

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

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.