Chesias legatella ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)


Chesias legatella: Adult (e.l. rearing, SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, larva in late April 2018) [S] Chesias legatella: Adult (e.l. rearing, SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, larva in late April 2018) [S] Chesias legatella: Adult (e.l. rearing, SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, larva in late April 2018) [S] Chesias legatella: Adult (e.l. rearing, SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, larva in late April 2018) [S] Chesias legatella: Adult (e.l. rearing, SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, larva in late April 2018) [S] Chesias legatella: Adult (e.l. rearing, SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, larva in late April 2018) [S] Chesias legatella: Adult (e.l. rearing, SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, larva in late April 2018) [S] Chesias legatella: Adult (e.l. rearing, SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, larva in late April 2018) [S] Chesias legatella: Adult [S] Chesias legatella: Adult [S] Chesias legatella: Half-grown larva (Northern Black Forest, Bosenstein, May 2011) [M] Chesias legatella: Larva (yellow form after consuming flowers, most larvae are green) [M] Chesias legatella: Larva (SW-Germany, Pforzheim, May 2012) [N] Chesias legatella: Larva (SW-Germany, Pforzheim, May 2012) [N] Chesias legatella: Larva (SW-Germany, Pforzheim, May 2012) [N] Chesias legatella: Larva (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, late April 2018) [M] Chesias legatella: Larva (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, late April 2018) [M] Chesias legatella: Larva (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, late April 2018) [M] Chesias legatella: Larva (Northern Black Forest, Bosenstein, May 2011) [M] Chesias legatella: Larva (Northern Black Forest, Bosenstein, May 2011) [M] Chesias legatella: Larva (Northern Black Forest, Bosenstein, May 2011) [M] Chesias legatella: Habitat at larval time (France, Massif Central, late May 2013) [N] Chesias legatella: Typical larval habitat with Cytisus scoparius at the time of the fully-grown larvae (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, late April 2018) [N] Chesias legatella: Typical larval habitat with Cytisus scoparius at the time of the fully-grown larvae (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, late April 2018) [N] Chesias legatella: Typical larval habitat with Cytisus scoparius (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, late April 2018) [N]

Host plants:
Broom species (Sarothamnus scoparius, Genista)

Habitat:
Chesias legatella inhabits broom edges in and on the margins of acidic forests and similar sites such as sandy heaths with occurrence of brooms.

Life cycle:
The eggs overwinter and the caterpillars live in the spring to June. The moths fly between late September and early November.

Endangerment: endangered

Endangerment factors:
In many places broom heathlands are almost extinct (due to overbuilding, afforestation and especially agricultural intensification like asparagus fields). In addition, light forest edges become rarer and rarer due to too dense afforestation and eutrophication.

Remarks:
Chesias legatella is distributed from north Africa across Europe to Southern Scandinavia.



Chesias rhegmatica