Cryphia muralis (Forster, 1771)

Host plants:
The caterpillar feeds on stone lichens, mosses and algae.

Habitat:
Cryphia muralis needs walls and rocks as habitat. In Abruzzo (Italy) I observed larvae also on small rocks in open grasslands.

Life cycle:
The caterpillars overwinter. They live in small, webbed shelters that are mainly made of finely granular soil in crannies or depressions of the rock. These soil shelters are occasionally fitted out with lichens and moss. At periods with high humidity (at night or occasionally after rainfalls at day) the larvae leave their shelters and feed on the stone lichens and algae.

The moths are on the wing between mid-June and late August. In the French Provence (Massif de la Sainte Baume) I observed several eating larvae after a short rain shower in the late afternoon in April 2011.

Endangerment factors:
Cryphia muralis is locally threatened through the substitution of old vineyard walls with beton or even their complete removal in order to obtain larger areas. At more natural sites, Cryphia muralis is less endangered, especially in the south.

Remarks:
Cryphia muralis is distributed from northwestern Africa locally across Southern and Central Europe to presumably Asia Minor where closely related taxa make an evaluation more difficult.