Zygaena laeta (Hübner, 1790)

Host plants:
Eryngium campestre (Apiaceae)

Habitat:
Zygaena laeta inhabits steppe slopes, pastures, dry clearings in open woodland and more rarely also wide roadside verges with dry vegetation.

Life cycle:
The moths fly in July and early August. I observed fresh adults at Scabiosa ochroleuca and particularly Carduus acanthoides in Northern Greece (Lake Prespa region)in mid-July 2007. The caterpillar overwinters and should be mature in early June.

Endangerment factors:
Zygaena laeta is locally endangered due to destruction of habitats (road expansions, overgrazing, overbuiding, modern EU agriculture, reforestation, succession).

Remarks:
Zygaena laeta shows a Ponto Mediterranean distribution and occurs in Europe from the south of Bohemia across eastern Austria to the Black Sea and Greece. In addition, it is found in Turkey and in the south of the former Soviet Union.