Red spotted burnets

During my rare one-off walks during quarantine, I passed a field. These colours and movements caught my attention. There were so many purple and pink thistles, and even more astonishing was the place was full of a moth species that I've not seen before. They were black with bright red markings or spots. So many of these black and red spotted moths were sat on almost every thistle. Later at home I did some checking. I discovered what these moths are called: the Six-Spot Burnet. They come from the Zygaenidae family that also includes foresters and other burnets. This big family of moths are nicknamed "smoky moths". However the six spotted burnets have a reputation alone. They're active during the day and live in meadows and woodlands. These moths are found throughout Europe and Asia Minor. The six-spot burnet moths are also called "Death Moths" because they can produce cyanide if threatened by predators such as birds and reptiles. These moths like purple and yellow flowers, including knapweeds, scabious, clover, thistle and dyrocnium. It was a colourful and rare thing to see. I wanted to share the experience on this blog.

Storm Valkyrie 🌹