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''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.
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.
It is rare or absent from Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, where related species include the similarly aposematic
Lepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q819945 Zygaena Aposematic species Moths of Europe Moths described in 1767 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
''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.
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.
It is rare or absent from Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, where related species include the similarly aposematic five-spot burnet
''Zygaena trifolii'', the five-spot burnet, is a moth in the family Zygaenidae. It is found from North Africa, through the western Mediterranean, Great Britain and central Europe to Ukraine. It is not found in Scandinavia.
The wingspan is 28– ...
and the six-spot burnet
The six-spot burnet (''Zygaena filipendulae'') is a day-flying moth of the family Zygaenidae.
Subspecies
*''Z. f. altapyrenaica'' Le Charles, 1950
*''Z. f. arctica'' Schneider, 1880
*''Z. f. balcanirosea'' Holik, 1943
*''Z. f. campaniae'' Re ...
.
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''.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
The adults often visit a wide range of flowers including knapweed
''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding reg ...
and eryngo
''Eryngium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. There are about 250 species.Wang, P., et al. (2012)Phytochemical constituents and pharmacological activities of ''Eryngium'' L. (Apiaceae). ''Pharmaceutical Crops'' 3 99-120. The ...
. 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
*''Zygaena fausta fausta'' *''Zygaena fausta agilis'' Reiss, 1932 *''Zygaena fausta alpiummicans'' Verity, 1926 *''Zygaena fausta baetica'' Rambur, 1839 *''Zygaena fausta fassnidgei'' Tremewan & Manley, 1965 *''Zygaena fausta faustina'' Ochsenheimer, 1808 *''Zygaena fausta fernan'' Agenjo, 1948 *''Zygaena fausta fina'' Burgeff, 1956 *''Zygaena fausta fortunata'' Rambur, 1866 *''Zygaena fausta gibraltarica'' Tremewan, 1961 *''Zygaena fausta jucunda'' Meisner, 1818 *''Zygaena fausta junceae'' Oberthur, 1884 *''Zygaena fausta lacrymans'' Burgeff, 1914 *''Zygaena fausta murciensis'' Reiss, 1922 *''Zygaena fausta preciosa'' Reiss, 1920 *''Zygaena fausta suevica'' Reiss, 1920References
External links
Lepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q819945 Zygaena Aposematic species Moths of Europe Moths described in 1767 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus