Moths....mainly Burnets

[David M]

Any good moth-ers out there?

I'm fairly ordinary with these insects so if anybody can shed light on these 5 individuals I'd be forever grateful.

Burnet 1:

Burnet 2:

Burnet 3:

Burnet 4:

....and this other specimen which is NOT a Burnet:

001Moth5.jpeg (43.75 KiB) Viewed 552 times

[Essex Bertie]

Hi David,
Burnets 3 & 4 are 6-spot Burnets (Zygaena filipendulae)
Burnets 1 & 2 are either 5-spot Burnet (Zygaena trifolii) or Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet (Zygaena lonicerae) it looks like you get both species in South Wales, particularly on the coast and you can't separate them from the photos.
The non-burnet might be a worn male European Corn Borer (Ostrinia nubilalis), which flies by day, or another Crambidae

cheers
Rob

[David M]

Thanks a lot, Rob, although looking back I should have mentioned that they were all seen in the French Alps during July!

[Essex Bertie]

Ah, no worries! But probably best to disregard my post! Can't believe there won't be other burnets, etc to consider

[Pieter Vantieghem]

First of all I want to stress that - apart from some exceptions - a great part of Zygaenidae are very difficult to determine in the field and certainly from just one picture as in lots of cases you need the abdomen pattern, hindwing pattern, shape of the wing, color of antennae and legs,... Some species (like Zygaena minos/purpuralis) only differ in genitalia and larval foodplant.
Secondly I am no specialist, I'm gonna give some names but I am not 100% sure.
Thirdly, Zygaena species are just too beautiful to ignore, me to, I always try to get them on pic and try to find names for the species I find during my trips...

Your first picture probably shows a female of Zygaena exulans, a typical high alpine species: http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Zygaena_Exulans
Your second + fourth picture make me think of Zygaena loti, the first of the two probably being a female: http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Zygaena_Loti
The other one is difficult, it could be Zygaena transalpina but you should have a more detailed pic then to see if the antennal tip is white.

The last picture seems to show Pyrausta despicata, a variable grassland species.

[David M]

Many, many thanks for your input, Pieter. It is much appreciated.