Zygaena loti

Slender Scotch burnet
Zygaena loti. Dorsal view
Lateral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Zygaenidae
Genus: Zygaena
Species: Z. loti
Binomial name
Zygaena loti
Synonyms
  • Sphinx loti Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775
  • Sphinx achilleae Esper, 1780
  • Anthrocera scotica Rowland-Brown, 1919

Zygaena loti, the slender Scotch burnet, is a moth of the family Zygaenidae.

Subspecies

Subspecies include:[1]

  • Zygaena loti loti
  • Zygaena loti achilleae (Esper, 1780)
  • Zygaena loti alpestris Burgeff, 1914
  • Zygaena loti arragonensis Staudinger, 1887
  • Zygaena loti avilensis Koch, 1948
  • Zygaena loti balcanica Reiss, 1922
  • Zygaena loti erythristica Tremewan & Manley, 1969
  • Zygaena loti failliei Dujardin, 1970
  • Zygaena loti hypochlora Dujardin, 1964
  • Zygaena loti janthina Boisduval, 1828
  • Zygaena loti ligustica Rocci, 1913
  • Zygaena loti macedonica Burgeff, 1926
  • Zygaena loti miniacea Oberthur, 1910
  • Zygaena loti osthelderi Burgeff, 1926
  • Zygaena loti praeclara Burgeff, 1926
  • Zygaena loti restricta Stauder, 1915
  • Zygaena loti scotica (Rowland-Brown, 1919)
  • Zygaena loti tristis Oberthur, 1884
  • Zygaena loti wagneri Milliere, 1885
  • Zygaena loti zobeli Reiss, 1921

Distribution and habitat

This species can be found in most of Europe, except Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Fennoscandia, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia.[2] These moths inhabit flowering rocky slopes, forest edges, clearings, limestone background, xerophilous steppes and dry grassland, at an elevation up to 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) above sea level.[3]

Description

Zygaena loti has a wingspan of 25–35 mm. Adults are on wing in June and July. The wings are rounded and the legs are partly white. Frontwings are grayish-blue in the males, yellow-gray in the females, with six red spots which partly flow together. The kidney-shaped spot at the tip of the forewings consists in fact of the fifth and sixth spots, which have grown together. The hindwings are red and have a black border.

This species is rather similar to Zygaena exulans, Zygaena filipendulae and Zygaena lonicerae.

The caterpillars can reach a length of about 20 millimetres (0.79 in). They are olive-green or yellow-green, with two yellow and two black dots on each segment and short white hairs.[4]

Biology

The adult moths fly in sunshine from mid-June to early July. The larvae feed on Lotus corniculatus, Hippocrepis comosa, Coronilla, Onobrychis and Securigera species. They overwinter once or twice as a larva.[5]

References


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