Species Details

ABH: 54.008

BF: 169

Family: Zygaenidae

Subfamily: Zygaeninae

Taxon: Zygaena filipendulae

=Zygaena filipendulae stephensi

=Zygaena filipendulae x lonicerae

Authority: (Linnaeus, 1758)

Vernacular: Six-spot Burnet

Account: Common on flower meadows, roadside verges, downland, woodland rides and sand-dunes throughout the British Isles, predominantly coastal in the north of its range Day-flying. Unmistakable — no other British species of burnet moth has six spots. Larva feeds on Bird's-foot Trefoil and Horseshoe Vetch, over-wintering at least once.

Accounts provided by and used with the kind permission of Mike Wall, Hampshire County Moth Recorder. These will in due course be gradually replaced with species accounts with a Surrey context.

Wingspan: 25 — 39 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 26 May (2024) — 1 Sep (2016)

The flight period of overwintering adults are not given. See the flight chart below the distribution map.

Foodplant: Lotus corniculatus (Common Bird's-foot-trefoil), Lotus pedunculatus (Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil).

Foodplant accounts are from the HOSTS database — Natural History Museum, London, UK. (CC0).

Status: Least Concern (LC)

UK BAP:

WCA:

Click here to view the full geology map of Surrey.

Verification Grade: 1 — Relatively easily identified 👌

Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/zygaena-filipendulae/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 699

Individuals: 930

Earliest Year: 1894

Latest Year: 2025

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