Zygaena laeta

Zygaena laeta, the bloodword burnet, is a moth of the family Zygaenidae.

Zygaena laeta
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Zygaenidae
Genus: Zygaena
Species:
Z. laeta
Binomial name
Zygaena laeta
(Hübner, 1790)
Synonyms
  • Sphinx laeta Hübner, 1790

Distribution

It is found in Central and South-Eastern Europe.

Description

In Z. laeta the collar and patagia as well as the apical half (or more) of the abdomen are red: also the wings are testaceous red except some black spots on the forewing. Larva of light bluish green, with while dorsal and lateral lines, along which there are blackdots. Pupa yellow, anteriorly dark brown, in a whitish cocoon. [1] The wingspan is 26–34 mm.

  • ♂
    ♂
  • ♂ △
    ♂ △

Biology

The moth flies from July to August, depending on the location, on dry hill-sides, During their slow flight the red abdomen is especially conspicuous, the flying insect bearing on that account a distant resemblance to certain southern Hemiptera.

The larva mainly feed on Eryngium campestre.

Subspecies
  • Zygaena laeta laeta
  • Zygaena laeta orientis Burgeff, 1926

References
  1. Seitz, A., 1913, in Seitz, Gross-Schmett. Erde 6: 22.,The Macrolepidoptera of the Palearctic Fauna 2. Volume: The Palearctic Bombyces & Sphinges. pdf Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.


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