Charissa staudingeri (Wnukowsky, 1929)

Host plants:
The larvae are polyphagous on herbs and dwarf shrubs of rocks and dry grasslands. I recorded 10 larvae on Euphorbia acanthothamnus in a rocky embankment along a road in Central Greece (Itea, early May 2016).

Habitat:
Charissa staudingeri inhabits rocky habitats, garigues and stony dry grasslands.

Life cycle:
The moths occur in several generations especially in spring and autumn. In summer, a part of the pupae (or larvae?) should go in aestivation dormancy.

Remarks:
Charissa staudingeri occurs from Greece (mainland and some islands like Crete and Samos) to Asia Minor and the Near and Middle East.

Charissa staudingeri is often treated as a subspecies of Ch. dubitaria.

Hints on determination:
The male antennae are much longer dentate than in Ch. subtaurica.

Literature:
ritsch, D., Stangelmaier, G., Top-Jensen, M., Bech, K. (2014): Die nachtaktive Großschmetterlingsfauna von Samos (Griechenland, Östliche Ägäis) (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea, Lasiocampoidea, Bombycoidea, Drepanoidea, Geometroidea, Noctuoidea). — Esperiana, Buchreihe zur Entomologie, Bad Staffelstein, Band 19: 7-101.