Cucullia thapsiphaga Treitschke, 1826

Host plants:
The larvae feed on Verbascum species. In N-Greece (Mount Olympus) I recorded them partially in the inflorescences, but otherwise more on lower sides of leaves near the ground.

Habitat:
Cucullia thapsiphaga colonizes roadsides, woodland edges, nutrient-poor grasslands, rocky embankments, other hot and dry edges and ruderal areas with Verbascum. In Northern Greece I met many larvae on roadsides through sparse steppe forest and extensive pastures.

Life cycle:
I found the caterpillars in July (N-Greece, early August (Bulgaria, up to 2000m) and near Delphi (Central Greece) already in May. Moths should fly from late May to late June (Northern Greece), but already in April in warm sites (Delphi). The pupa overwinters in the cocoon. Until autumn, the adult is already quite far developed in the pupa, as is the case with Cucullia verbasci.

Endangerment factors:
Cucullia thapsiphaga is probably already extinct north of the Alps. But it occurs in the Mediterranean region (e.g. Greece) or in the S-Balkans (e.g. Bulgaria) locally still quite common.

Remarks:
Cucullia thapsiphaga occurs in Southern Europe and parts of Western Asia (e.g. Asia Minor). In the past it has been observed to the north to Central Germany and northern Poland, but now probably only to the southern parts of the Alps and some central Alpine dry valleys.