Zygaena rubicundus explained

Zygaena rubicundus, common name fulvous burnet,. is a species of moth in the family Zygaenidae.

Etymology

The Latin species name “rubicundus” means "high fiery red".

Distribution and habitat

This species is endemic to the mainland of Italy.^{[1] [2]} These moths prefer limestone grasslands, mountain slopes and open scrub with the host plant.^[3]

Description

Zygaena rubicundus can reach a wingspan of . Seitz, A. describes Zygaena rubicundus as follows:- All the wings red, also the hindmargin, only the apex and distal margin of forewing bearing a black edge, which is a little more than 1 mm wide. In Central and South Italy. Very local.^[4]

This species is closely related to Zygaena contaminei.^[3]

Biology

These rather small diurnal moths develop a complete metamorphosis which involves a pupal stage (holometabolous). Adults are on the wing between June and August.^{[3] [5]} They visit flowers of Centranthus (Valerians). ^[6] The larvae feed mainly on Eryngium campestre and Eryngium amethystinum.^{[7] [3] [8]}

Bibliography

• Hofmann, A.F. & W.G. Tremewan (2017): The Natural History of Burnet Moths (Zygaena Fabricius, 1775) (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae). Part 1. – 630 S.; Munich – Vilnius (Proceedings of the Museum Witt).
• Erstbeschreibung: Hübner, J. [1793-1832]: Sammlung europäischer Schmetterlinge 2: pl. 1-38.

External links

• Euroleps
• Hlasek
• Ibolli

Notes and References

1. https://fauna-eu.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/574242a5-fb5a-4e94-ac2b-0301c0a00dfb Fauna Europaea
2. https://www.gbif.org/species/7586742 GBIF
3. http://www.pyrgus.de/Zygaena_rubicundus_en.html Pyrgus.de
4. [Adalbert Seitz |Seitz, A.]
5. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/479780-Zygaena-rubicundus iNaturalist
6. https://eol.org/pages/374328 EoL
7. http://www.leps.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/ZygaeRubic.htm Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa
8. https://lepiforum.org/wiki/page/Zygaena_rubicundus Lepiforum.org