Cucullia balsamitae Boisduval, 1840

Host plants:
The larvae feed especially on Chondrilla, so on Ch. juncea. Supposedly (e.g. larvae in May and June?) also related Asteraceae are used (Hieracium, Crepis, Lactuca?). In rearing Lactuca serriola is accepted readily.

Habitat:
Cucullia balsamitae inhabits sandy steppes, sandy grasslands, fallow land and similar places with variable proportion of scrub.

Life cycle:
The moths fly obviously between late April and early or mid-August. Most probably two overlapping generations are involved. The second is possibly only partial. The larvae occur from mid-may to early or mid-August. I recorded a small larva and one in the penultimate instar in late August 2019 in Hungary (near Dabas). In late July 2020 I recorded mature (but parasitized) and small larvae. The pupa hibernates.

Remarks:
Cucullia balsamitae occurs from SE-Poland and Hungary across Romania, Ukraine and Russia to Central Asia. In the southeast the northern Balkans are reached (e.g. N-Bulgaria, but not in Greece).