Zygaena ephialtes
| Zygaena ephialtes | |
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| Ephialtoid form | |
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| Peucedanoid form | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Zygaenidae |
| Genus: | Zygaena |
| Species: | Z. ephialtes |
| Binomial name | |
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Zygaena ephialtes (Linnaeus, 1767) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Zygaena ephialtes is a species of moth in the family Zygaenidae. There is no common English name, but it is a type of burnet moth.
Subspecies within this species:
This species can be found in most of Europe, except Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Fennoscandia, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia. In Italy is generally called prete (priest).
The moths are found preferentially where the food plants of the caterpillars occur in larger stocks, such as railway embankments and roadsides, and in any case only on limestone soils, grasslands and sparse forests. Warm, dry areas and sunny slopes are also preferred.
Zygaena ephialtes has a wingspan reaching 35–40 millimetres (1.4–1.6 in). The forewings are dark blue, with five or six spots very variable in the color, as they may be red, yellow or white. Usually these spots are red, while the ring segment (belt) on the abdomen may be yellow or red. The hindwings are red, yellow or completely black and have a delicate, black outer edge.
The caterpillars are about 22 millimeters long. They have a greenish-yellow basic color and carry longitudinal lines of black dots and square patches. Eggs are pale green, while pupa are yellow brown.
Zygaena ephialtes is unpalatable to birds. Amata phegea imitates its appearance (Müllerian mimicry). Both moths are examples of aposematism.
This moth is a polymorphic species having different mimetic forms. There is an ephialtoid form similar in coloration to the genus Amata of tiger moths (Arctiidae) (see Amata phegea). They are characterized by white spots on the upper wing surface and the wear a yellow ring segment. In contrast, the peucedanoid form is similar to the six-spot burnet (Zygaena filipendulae). They have five or six red spots on the upper wing surface and have a red body ring.
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Wikipedia