Enargia paleacea (Esper, 1788)

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives on Populus (Populus tremula) and also on Betula.

Habitat:
I found the caterpillars in May 2009 at aspen bushes at the edge of moist clearings in forests of the eastern Swabian Alb. A single observation has been made even on a dry slope in the Valais. In total softwood-rich stocks are inhabited, such as riparian forests, mixed oak forests and wetlands.

Life cycle:
The egg hibernates. The caterpillar is mature from mid-May to mid-June. They live between spun leaves, where also pupation occurs. The moths fly from late June to September, with peak from mid-July to August.

Endangerment factors:
Enargia paleacea is in decline as a result of eradication of economically insignificant softwoods in the forests, but is not yet seriously threatened.

Remarks:
The distribution extends from the Pyrenees across large parts of Europe (missing e.g. in Greece and Northern Scandinavia) and temperate Asia to Japan.