The Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae) is a day-flying moth of the family Zygaenidae. It is a common species throughout Europe.
The sexes are similar and have a wingspan of 30-40 mm. |
The forewings are dark metallic green with 6 vivid red spots (sometimes the spots are merged causing possible confusion with other species such as Five-spot Burnet). Occasionally the spots are yellow or even black. The hindwings are red with a blackish fringe.
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The adults fly on hot, sunny days from June to August and are attracted to a wide variety of flowers such as knapweed and scabious as well as the larval food plants bird's foot trefoil and clover. The species overwinters as a larva.
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The Comma (Polygonia c-album) is a species of butterfly, common in the United Kingdom and with a distribution across Europe and temperate Asia to Japan and south to Morocco. Similar species are found in the United States and Canada. It has a white marking on its underwings resembling a comma. The wings have a distinctive ragged edge, apparently a cryptic form as the butterfly resembles a fallen leaf. The caterpillars are also cryptic, resembling a bird dropping.
(Thanks to onlyricky) |
The species survives the winter in the adult stage, and adults are of two forms. The form that overwinters before reproducing has dark undersides of the wings, whereas the form that develops directly to sexual maturation has lighter colured wing undersides. Both forms can arise from eggs laid by the same female, depending mainly on the photoperiods experienced by the larvae, but also with an influence of host plants, temperature and sex of individuals.
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The 1st one is a very pretty moth.
Lynda · 2009-08-06: 05:30
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very nice
tekfish3 · 2009-08-06: 05:41
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very interesting post ... great shots :)
cariad · 2009-08-06: 06:09
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wow! well done! (: I've never seen these butterflies in Live :P Gorgeous
onlyricky · 2009-08-06: 06:58
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hey, I think it is a Polygonia c-album aka Comma Butterfly :) What do you think? (:
onlyricky · 2009-08-06: 07:38
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Very pretty, never seen either species before.
LostAspen · 2009-08-06: 09:38
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Awesome shots well done !!
finbarr · 2009-08-06: 16:57
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très belle série..
domelia · 2009-08-06: 20:07
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very good info. thanks for sharing it
Askrubies · 2009-08-07: 00:16
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very nice post with uuseful information
miltonjacob · 2009-08-07: 03:47
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