Zygaena ephialtes (Linnaeus, 1767)

Taxonomy

class Insecta → subclass Pterygota → infraclass Neoptera → superorder Holometabola → order Lepidoptera → superfamily Zygaenoidea → family Zygaenidae → subfamily Zygaeninae → genus Zygaena → subgenus Zygaena → species Zygaena ephialtes

Species name(s)

Zygaena (Zygaena) ephialtes (Linnaeus, 1767) = Sphinx ephialtes Linnaeus, 1767 = Sphinx falcatae [Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775 = Sphinx aeacus [Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775 = Sphinx schaefferi Scheven, 1777 = Sphinx trigonellae Esper, 1783 = Sphinx veronicae Borkhausen, 1789 = Zygaena (Zygaena) ephialtes = Anthrocera ephialtes. [9, 10, 11]

urn:lsid:insecta.pro:taxonomy:11832

Expansion

This species marks on the maps: 3.

Zoogeographical regions

Palaearctic.

Russia regions

#8. Evropeisky Tsentralny; #9. Evropeisky Tsentralno-Chernozyomny; #10. Sredne-Volzhsky; #11. Volgo-Donsky; #17. Yuzhno-Uralsky; #19. Sredneobsky.

Forewing length

18—20 mm.

Primary colors

Red, Orange, Green, Blue, White.

Flight time

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Larva lifespan

 					January 					February 					March 					April 					May 					June 					July 					August 					September 					October 					November 					December 			

Over-wintering stage

Larva.

Detailed information with references

Taxonomy, synonyms and combinations

Anthrocera ephialtes [11].

Distribution

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Crete, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union - the European part of Turkey - European part of France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Yugoslavia. [1].
Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Germany, Greece (mainland), Dodecanese Islands, Spain (mainland), Italy (mainland), Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia , Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey (European part), Ukraine, France (mainland), Croatia,Czech Republic, Switzerland, Yugoslavia. [10].
Regions of the Russian Federation: the Volga-Don, the European Central Black Earth, Central European, Middle-Volzhsky, Sredneobskaya, South Ural. [3].
Central Europe (disjunctive), other Europe (rare). [5].

Imago Habitus and Differences from alike species

Length of front wing - 2 cm. Spots on the front wings usually 6, their color can be red, white or yellow, a characteristic feature of the species is the red (rarely - yellow) spot on the body. Kind of very, very volatile (see. Its Russian name). [5].
The wings are black, monochrome rear, front with white spots. Abdomen with a white or (more often) a red belt. The wingspan of 33 to 40 mm. [11].

General info about Imago

Places volley - limestone soil. Meadow. Shaded areas. [5].

Imago lifespan

From July to August. [5].

Larva food plants / other food objects

Coronilla varia, Coronilla emerus. [28].
Coronilla (Coronilla varia). [5].

Larva lifespan

From September to July. [5].

Overwintering stage

Obviously, the caterpillar. [5].

Subspecies of Zygaena ephialtes

Zygaena ephialtes athamanthae (Esper, 1789). [9]
Z. e. bohemia Reiss, 1922. [9]
Z. e. coronillae ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775). [9]
Z. e. peucedani (Esper, 1780). [9]
Z. e. roussilloni Koch, 1940. [9]
Z. e. wagneriana Reiss, 1929. [9]

Authors

Initial species uploading to the site: Peter Khramov.

Photos: Andrey Ponomarev.

Text data: Peter Khramov.

The species characteristics formalization: Peter Khramov, Sergei Kotov.

References

[1] O. Karsholt, J. Razowski (eds.), 1996. The Lepidoptera of Europe: a distributional checklist
[3] Каталог чешуекрылых (Lepidoptera) России. Под ред. С. Ю. Синёва. СПб.; М.: Товарищество научных изданий КМК, 2008
[5] Райххолф-Рим Х. Бабочки. М.: Астрель, 2002
[9] Tree of Life (funet.fi), 2012
[10] de Jong, Y.S.D.M. (ed.) (2011) Fauna Europaea version 2.4 (faunaeur.org)
[11] Жизнь животных по А. Э. Брему. Т.2: Членистоногие. М.: Учпедгиз РСФСР, 1941
[28] Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (leps.it), 2012