Zygaena purpuralis

Zygaena purpuralis
Dorsal view
Ventral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Zygaenidae
Genus:	Zygaena
Species:	Z. purpuralis
Binomial name
Zygaena purpuralis (Brünnich, 1763)
Synonyms
Zygaena reissi Burgeff, 1926 Zygaena reissiana Burgeff, 1926 Zygaena reissoides Koch, 1942 Zygaena hibernica Reiss, 1933 Zygaena simferopolica Reiss, 1939 Zygaena guhni Reiss, 1940 Zygaena neumanni Reiss, 1940 Zygaena purpurella Reiss, 1953 Zygaena fatrensis Reiss, 1940 Zygaena subalpicola Reiss, 1940 Zygaena bezauensis Reiss, 1940

Zygaena purpuralis, the transparent burnet, is a moth of the Zygaenidae family.

Zygaena purpuralis. Illustration from Europas bekannteste Schmetterlinge, Plate IX (ca. 1895)

Description

Zygaena purpuralis is a medium-sized moth with a wingspan reaching 30–34 millimetres (1.2–1.3 in). Usually the forewings show three bright red longitudinal streaks quite variable in shape, with almost transparent greyish-bluish edges. Hind wings are more extensively or almost completely bright red. Head and thorax are black, while the abdomen is dark blue. Adults moths are on wing from late May until August, depending on location. They fly during the day, especially with warm and sunny weather, feeding on nectar of various flowers. Larva are yellow, with some lines of small black spots. The larva feed on wild thyme (Thymus polytrichus, Thymus serpyllum, etc.). They occur from August to May and overwinter once or twice.

Distribution

This species can be is found in most of western, central and southern Europe, from Ireland to France through to Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Russia and the Altai Mountains.

Habitat

Zygaena purpuralis prefers sunny and grassy slopes, undercliffs and dry grassland.

Subspecies

There are several distinct sub-species:

• Zygaena purpuralis purpuralis
• Zygaena purpuralis austronubigena Verity 1946
• Zygaena purpuralis caledonensis Reiss, 1931 (Hebridean islands of Skye, Lismore, Kerrera, Mull, Ulva, Eigg, Canna, and Rùm and in a few localities on the Scottish mainland in Kintyre and parts of western Argyllshire)
• Zygaena purpuralis dojranica Burgeff, 1926
• Zygaena purpuralis fiorii Costantini, 1916
• Zygaena purpuralis isarca Verity, 1922
• Zygaena purpuralis lathyri Boisduval, 1828
• Zygaena purpuralis magnalpina Verity, 1922
• Zygaena purpuralis mirabilis Verity, 1922
• Zygaena purpuralis nubigena Lederer, 1853
• Zygaena purpuralis sabulosa Tremewan, 1976 (western Ireland in the Burren, Counties Galway and Mayo and on Inishmore, in the Aran Islands)
• Zygaena purpuralis segontii Tremewan, 1958 (occurred on sea-cliffs of the Llŷn Peninsula, Caernarvonshire. It has not been reported since 1962 and might be extinct)

External links

• Butterfly Conservation
• European Butterflies and Moths
• Fauna Europaea
• Schmetterling-raupe.de
• UK Moths