Adscita albanica (Naufock, 1926)

Host plants:
The larvae usually feed on Geranium sanguineum, more rarely also on other Geranium. Other Geranium sp. are moreover accepted in rearing.

Habitat:
Adscita albanica inhabits in the first place woodland margins with dry and hot forb communities and Geranium sanguineum. Below the timber line these are usually edges of extensively grazed pastures, the borders of forest and power tracks or rocky slopes. Many habitats are moreover along the (often artificial low by grazing) timber line which is often formed by beech or pine in the Balkans.

Life cycle:
The moths occur between late May and earl July with peak in the second half of June, in Greece already in the first half. I recorded already partially worn individuals in N-Greece (Mount Pangeon) on 12. June 2024). The imago usually hangs below the Geranium flower and nectars through gaps between calyx and petal leaves. Thus it is a bit inconspicuous (you will often have to bow and watch from nearer to the ground) and almost unvisible from above. Moreover, they are protected from direct sun.

Oviposition occurs in small groups of 2-30 eggs often on lower leaf sides, but also on other parts. In dry and hot environments larvae estivate. They often enter diapause in the penultimate instar after long feeding late in autumn, sometimes also in the antepenultimate instar (rearing observations). They are mature in April and May and construct their cocoon in the soil.

Endangerment factors:
Adscita albanica is very local and often heavily endangered by abandonment of low-intensity grazing and subsequent overgrowth. Nevertheless also intense grazing can wipe out local populations, but abandonment is actually the larger problem in the Balkans. On Greek mount Pangeon more and more Pteridium aquilinum succession is observed on abandoned pastures in the forest zone which deplaces Geranium.

Remarks:
Adscita albanica occurs from Albania, North Macedonia, S-Serbia and Bulgaria to N-Greece (rarely on a few mountains) and further across Crimea to S-Russia and the Caucasus.

The larvae are quite different in colouration from the vicariant A. dujardini.