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MothsRed-and-black insect, size of grasshopper
July 28, 2009
I saw this lovely red and black insect swaying around on the top of a flower in a fairly strong wind. Size of a grasshopper, but didn’t seem to be typically grasshopper-y, to my eyes at least. Location was grassland and scrub around clay pit in the Surrey Hills ANOB, time was late afternoon late July.
Louise
Hambledon, Surrey Hills ANOB
Six-Spot Burnet
Dear Louise,
We believe your lovely diurnal or day flying moth is the Six-Spot Burnet, Zygaena filipendulae. There is a wonderful website for the identification of UK Moths that has a quick way to reference moths by families, the thumbnail index, and the Six-Spot Burnet was quickly located in the family Zygaenidae, the Leaf Skeletonizer Moths. According to UK Moths, the Six-Spot Burnet has a “Wingspan 30-38 mm. This is the commonest of Britain’s day-flying Burnet moths, and is found throughout Britain, with a coastal bias in the North. Occupying meadows, woodland clearings and sea-cliffs, it flies from June to August. The larvae feed mainly on bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).“ Thanks for educating us today that AONB stands for Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
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