Hypena rostralis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Host plants:
The caterpillars live on Humulus lupulus (hops). Supposedly Urtica is also used according to literature, but I think this should be quite rare.

Habitat:
The caterpillar inhabits moist thickets, riparian forests, swamp areas, stream margins and other places with the larval host plant. It prefers lowlands up to about 500m above sea level (sometimes even higher).

Life cycle:
The moths hibernate in sheds, tree holes, etc., but probably also just in leaf litter and elsewhere. I observed larvae in the summer of 2011 both in June and early September, respectively in all instars (Dettenheim, northern Upper Rhine), so that at least in warm years and lower elevations two generations occur. At higher altitudes, however, a single generation should prevail. The caterpillars are thus to be found from May to September with peaks in June/early July and late August/early September in warm years.

Endangerment factors:
Hypena rostralis is still not endangered, even if many habitats have been already lost through the destruction of riparian forests for agricultural land and settlements.

Remarks:
Hypena rostralis occurs from the Iberian Peninsula across large parts of Europe (especially Central Europe) and temperate Asia to Japan.