''Zygaena brizae'' is a species of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

in the

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 ...

family. It is found in

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, the

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, the

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and

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Technical description and variation (Seitz)

''Z. brizae'' Esp. (= ''scabiosae'' Hbn.) Smaller and weaker than the previous species, ''Zygaena purpuralis'' ">Zygaena_purpuralis.html" ;"title="''Zygaena purpuralis">''Zygaena purpuralis'' with considerably shorter antenna. The red wedge-spots are confluent, the basal two-thirds of forewing, apart from hindmargin, being all red, the distal edge of this area being straight and parallel to the edge of the wing. Extends from the Tyrol eastwards into Western Asia. — In ''erebus'' Stgr. (= ''manni'' Kirby) [ now ''Zygaena mana'' Kirby, 1892 ], from Armenia, the hindwing is more broadly edged with black, which is the case also in ''gallica'' Oberth. [ now ''Zygaena nevadensis'' ssp. ''gallica'' Oberthür, 1898 ] from Digne, the red colour of forewing being somewhat reduced in this form. — ''corycia'' Stgr. from Syria, is rather intensity coloured, but is very much smaller than typical ''brizae''; the forewing strongly rounded and almost elliptical; the black marginal band of hindwing narrow but sharply marked. — Also of ''brizae'' there occur specimens with the red streaks interrupted: ab. ''interrupta'' Hirschke, and individuals with red abdominal belt: ab. ''cingulata'' Dziurz. — Larva grey-yellow; subdorsally black velvety spots behind which there are yellow spots, these bearing black setiferous dots; stigmata, pectoral legs and head black, the last with a light edged frontal triangle. The blackish, posteriorly yellow pupa, lies in a silvery white cocoon. Seitz, 1913, in Seitz, Gross-Schmett. Erde 6: 22., The Macrolepidoptera of the Palearctic Fauna 2. Volume: The Palearctic Bombyces & Sphinges
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Subspecies

*''Zygaena brizae brizae'' *''Zygaena brizae araratensis'' Reiss, 1935 *''Zygaena brizae burssensis'' Reiss, 1928 *''Zygaena brizae corycia'' Staudinger, 1871 *''Zygaena brizae drvarica'' Rauch, 1977 *''Zygaena brizae lycaonica'' Reiss, 1935 *''Zygaena brizae ochrida'' Holik, 1937 *''Zygaena brizae staudingeriana'' Reiss, 1932 *''Zygaena brizae tbilisica'' Reiss & Reiss, 1973 *''Zygaena brizae trikalica'' Reiss, 1977 *''Zygaena brizae tsibilisica'' G. & H. Reiss, 1973 *''Zygaena brizae vesubiana'' Le Charles, 1933

Biology

The larva feeds on ''

Cirsium arvense ''Cirsium arvense'' is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native throughout Europe and western Asia, northern Africa and widely introduced elsewhere.Joint Nature Conservation Committee''Cirsium arvense'' The standa ...

''. The moth flies in June and July.

References

Moths described in 1800 Zygaena Moths of Europe Moths of Asia {{Zygaenidae-stub