70.250 Lycia zonaria (Belted Beauty)
fw: 13-16mm (Waring & Townsend); Mar-Apr; common bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria); NS-A on machair and sand-dunes on the Hebrides, and very locally in NW England.
Lycia zonaria (Belted Beauty) §1 male
ID: Male: Forewing brown and silvery white; a broad brown terminal fascia divided by a whitish subterminal line; a broad whitish postmedian line; a variable brown median fascia, somewhat interrupted by incursions from broad whitish subdorsal and discal streaks. Female: flightless with vestigial wings and covered in straw-coloured hairs. Abdomen blackish with orange bands along the distal margin of the dorsal surface of segments A1-7 in the male and A1-6 in the female.
Note: Waring & Townsend states that the "abdomen is black with orange rings"; in fact the orange bands do not extend onto the ventral surface and any appearance suggesting that they do is caused by the straw-coloured hairs being concentrated on the distal margin of the segment. Also contrary to what is stated in W&T - both sexes are most easily found by searching fence-posts at any time of day (I wasted several hours looking for them on vegetation).
Note: Waring & Townsend states that the "abdomen is black with orange rings"; in fact the orange bands do not extend onto the ventral surface and any appearance suggesting that they do is caused by the straw-coloured hairs being concentrated on the distal margin of the segment. Also contrary to what is stated in W&T - both sexes are most easily found by searching fence-posts at any time of day (I wasted several hours looking for them on vegetation).
Lycia zonaria (Belted Beauty) §5 female; genitalia, stained chlorazol black
§1 Islay; 13/04/2022; male; fw 13.3mm
§2 Islay; 13/04/2022; male
§3 Islay; 13/04/2022; male
§4 Islay; 13/04/2022; male; fw 14.3mm
§5 Islay; 13/04/2022; female; fw 4.8mm
§6 Islay; 13/04/2022; female
§7 Islay; 13/04/2022; female
All images © Chris Lewis
§2 Islay; 13/04/2022; male
§3 Islay; 13/04/2022; male
§4 Islay; 13/04/2022; male; fw 14.3mm
§5 Islay; 13/04/2022; female; fw 4.8mm
§6 Islay; 13/04/2022; female
§7 Islay; 13/04/2022; female
All images © Chris Lewis
Page published 14/04/2022 (§1-7)
