Euxoa hastifera (Donzel, 1847)

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives polyphagous on grasses and herbs.

Habitat:
Euxoa hastifera inhabits rupicolous grasslands, sandy areas, rocky slopes and similar, xerothermic habitats. I found the young caterpillar in a calcareous grassland in the northern Pindos (Northern Greece) in May 2011, resting on a blade of grass near the ground.

Life cycle:
The still small caterpillar overwinters and is mature in late May or in the course of June. The moths fly in the months of August/September.

Endangerment factors:
Euxoa hastifera is locally threatened by habitat loss.

Remarks:
Euxoa hastifera is distributed from Morocco across Southern Europe to Asia Minor and the Middle East. To the north, it is found mainly in the south of Switzerland and eastern Austria. Very locally it is also found in Germany in the sand areas of Brandenburg.