Scientific name: Zygaena trifolii
May - August. Southern England, Wales, Isle of Man. Medium-sized with black forewing with five red spots. Lives on damp grassland, chalk downland, and heaths. Can be confused with the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet.
Very similar to and sometimes difficult to distinguish from the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet. Consequently, the distribution of the Five-spot Burnet is imperfectly known. In general, the forewing of the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet is longer and more pointed, the upper angle of the hindwing being more pointed and the black border of the hindwing being narrower than those of the Five-spot Burnet. Rarely the red colour is replaced by yellow.
Sometimes found commonly, the moth flies with a slow buzzing flight during sunshine and visits a range of flowers.
Size and Family
- Family – Burnets and Foresters (Zygaenids)
- Medium Sized
- UK BAP: Not listed
- Local (only found in some areas)
Particular Caterpillar Food Plants
Subspecies palustrella feeds on Common Bird’s-foot Trefoil. The caterpillar of subspecies decreta feeds on Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil.
- Countries – England, Wales
- Two subspecies are found in the UK. Subspecies palustrella is distributed along the North and South Downs, Salisbury Plain and the Cotswolds. Also occurs on the Channel Islands. Subspecies decreta is found in southern and south-western England and parts of Wales, often near the coast, north to Anglesey. Also found on the Isle of Man.
Damp neutral grassland, limestone grassland, chalk downland, breck grassland, sandy heathland, sand dunes, woodland rides and clearings