Slender Scotch Burnet

Zygaena loti, also called the slender Scotch burnet moth, is a member of the butterfly and moth order Lepidoptera and the family Zygaenidae. While most moths are categorized as nocturnal, Zygaenidae moths are unique in that they are day-flying or diurnal moths. The Z. loti has also been described as highly sedentary. With a wingspan of 25-35mm, the slender Scotch burnet moth can be identified as having a relatively small black body, light colored legs, and a pair of black or light brown colored, rounded wings with red spots. This moth in particular displays a sexual dimorphism, in which the wings of females are scaled much lighter than their male conspecifics and they possess a double white ruff. Frontwings are grayish-blue in the males, yellow-gray in the females, with six red spots which partly flow together. The kidney-shaped spot at the tip of the forewings consists in fact of the fifth and sixth spots, which have grown together. The hindwings are red and have a black border.

This species is rather similar to Zygaena exulans, Zygaena filipendulae and Zygaena lonicerae. The caterpillars can reach a length of about 20 millimetres (0.79 in). They are olive-green or yellow-green, with two yellow and two black dots on each segment and short white hairs.

The geographic distribution of Zygaena loti is well documented, but not uniform across research studies. Some documentation cites Zygaena loti to be mainly in western Scotland and solely confined to the Isles Mull and Ulva. The research that claims this however is only looks at the subspecies scotica. The animals in the family Zygaenidae are actually widespread across the European continent. More specifically, Zygaena loti is found in most of Europe, except Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Fennoscandia, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia. This species has been spotted in Spain on the Iberian peninsula, across central and southern Europe, and to Siberia. While it is not very common in northern Europe, there is an isolated population in Scotland. They used to be widely distributed, creating a network of interconnected communities, but due to habitat loss as a likely result of an increase use of land for agriculture, most Z. loti and Zygaenidae populations have become fragmented and isolated from each other. The isolation that these moths are subjected to has led to high levels of genetic differentiation between populations. The current status of the moth's total distribution range since the 1970s is declining. Although fairly widespread, Z. …

The life cycle of Zygaena loti has not been well observed, but from the available literature the following likely life cycle can be constructed. The moth is characterized as an early burnet with caterpillars molting out of diapause in late February to early March. The caterpillars hide during the day in moss layers or herbage containing small, short plants less than 6 cm tall. There they also construct or spin their cocoons (oval-shaped, dull dirty whitish color) to enter their pupal stage. later mature into adult moths in May to early June. As adults, their flight time is somewhere from late May to early August depending on eclosion. Since they are diurnal, they only fly during the day. After mating, females will lay their eggs on larval food plants, such as the ones listed below, and the resulting larvae will feed from approximately August to early May, overwintering once and sometimes twice in their larval diapaused state.

Food resources. For larvae, there are some contrasting findings, but all observed food plants that Z. loti caterpillars have been found on are from the family Fabaceae, such as Hippocrepis comosa, Lotus corniculatus, Securigera varia, and Onobrychis vicilfolia. For adult moths, even less has been recorded about their diets. …