Bug card No. 1225 of 1,500
Six-spot burnet
Zygaena filipendulae
The six-spot burnet is a moth that flies in the daytime, in bright sunshine. Its front wings are shiny dark green with six bright red spots, and its back wings are red.
Lives in
Almost all of Europe and parts of western Asia, in flowery meadows, clearings and sea cliffs
Wingspan
3 to 4 cm (1.2 to 1.6 in)
What does it eat?
The grown-up moth visits flowers like knapweed, scabious and clover. The hairy caterpillar eats bird's-foot trefoil and clover leaves.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 7 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 27 seconds
How big is Six-spot burnet compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Six-spot burnet about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Sometimes its spots are yellow or even black instead of red.
2
It flies on hot, sunny days from June to August.
3
The caterpillar spends the winter as a caterpillar and then spins a papery cocoon on a grass stem.
4
It can live high up in the mountains, up to 2000 metres.
you asked
Most asked questions about Six-spot burnet
?Is the six-spot burnet a butterfly or a moth?
It is a moth, even though it flies in the daytime like a butterfly.
?How big is a six-spot burnet?
Its wings are 3 to 4 centimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Zygaena filipendulae
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Zygaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Zygaenidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Six-spot burnet (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Ivar Leidus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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