Zygaena (Zygaena) rhadamanthus azurea Burgeff, 1914

Efetov, Konstantin A., Hofmann, Axel, Tarmann, Gerhard M. & Tremewan, Walter Gerald, 2014, Taxonomic comments on the treatment of the Zygaenidae (Lepidoptera) in volume 3 of Moths of Europe, Zygaenids, Pyralids 1 and Brachodids (2012), Nota Lepidopterologica 37 (2), pp. 123-133 : 127

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Zygaenidae

Zygaena (Zygaena) rhadamanthus azurea Burgeff, 1914 stat. rev.

Zygaena rhadamanthus azurea Burgeff, 1914, Mitteilungen der Münchener Entomologischen Gesellschaft 5: 60, pl. 2, fig. 158, pl. 6, figs 75, 76 ( Zygaena ). Type-locality. France: Alpes-Maritimes (excluding coastal regions).

Distribution and taxonomic notes.

Zygaena rhadamanthus azurea is distributed in the départements of Var and Alpes-Maritimes (excluding coastal regions). Although Leraut (2012: 98) synonymised this taxon with the melanistic Zygaena rhadamanthus stygia Burgeff, 1914, the distribution of the latter ranges from east of the River Var (Alpes-Maritimes) in France to Imperia in Italy. Much has been written about littoral melanism (e.g. Burgeff 1951, 1956, 1965; Dujardin 1965: 586-587) and that exhibited by subsp. stygia is a good example for comparison with the ‘normal’ phenotype of subsp. azurea - to consider both taxa as one subspecies clearly disregards the concept of littoral melanism and the zoogeography of Zygaena rhadamanthus in south-eastern France. Consequently, Zygaena rhadamanthus azurea is here reinstated as a valid subspecies (stat. rev.).