Host plants:
The caterpillar lives endophagous in reeds (Phragmites australis) and according to literature also Phalaris arundinacea.
Habitat:
Archanara neurica inhabits sitation zones of rivers and lakes, marsh edges and other uncut reeds. The caterpillars live mainly in reeds that do not stand directly in the water.
Life cycle:
The egg hibernates in rows on dry reeds. The caterpillar lives from late April to late June (rare still in early July). I found the caterpillar in the last and penultimate instar on 10 June 2012 together with half-grown A. geminipunctata at the river Iller at Oberbinnwang (SW-Bavaria). The feeding pattern is very similar to A. geminipunctata even if the damage (dying innermost leaves) is sometimes less pronounced due to the smaller size of the A. neurica larva.
On first of July 2012, I found there pupae, in which the dark eyes testified the advanced development and that hatched a week later. At the same time I found several mature larvae and two prepupae of A. geminipunctata. Unlike A. geminipunctata the slip trap of the moth is usually roundish and not oval. In addition, the pupa rests above the trap and indeed with the head down. Therefore the drilling hole and the trap are usually slightly closer together than with A. geminipunctata.
The moths fly mostly a little earlier than those of Archanara geminipunctata, namely from 10. July to early September, with a focus on late July and early August.
Endangerment: endangered
Endangerment factors:
Archanara neurica requires undisturbed reed areas which are increasingly harassed as economically worthless terrain by agriculture, but also by other measures (roads, etc.).
Remarks:
Archanara neurica is locally present in central and smaller parts of Southern Europe (Italy, southeastern France, Bulgaria, Slovenia). To the north, the south of England, Denmark and the Baltic States are reached. Outside Europe there are apparently records so far only known from Morocco (relict occurrence in the mountains?).