Host plants:
The larvae prefer definitely Asteraceae like Taraxacum, Crepis, Hypochaeris, Leontodon, Hieracium, Centaurea and related taxa.
Habitat:
Lemonia dumi inhabits not too nutrient-rich, only extensively managed grasslands and pastures which range in most cases from mesophilic to moderate dry. It is important that there is no mowing or intense grazing between the start of the flight time and larval development.
Life cycle:
The eggs are deposited in often very inconspicuous small batches (often 10-20 eggs) on ground-near parts of plants (stems, blades). They hibernate. The larvae develop mostly between April and June. The pupa aestivates. Flight time is induced by lower temperatures and more humidity in autumn. It seems also to be influenced by changes in air pressure (e.g. changes to good weather). Thus the moths occur between late September and November according to site and weather conditions. Dry and warm late summers and early autums delay flight time as it is regularly the case in the South.
Endangerment factors:
Lemonia dumi is heavily endangered by the most often much too intense human land use (e.g. fertilization, frequent mowing, too intense grazing, destruction of grasslands for agriculture, overbuilding, afforestation). Many rest habitats are too small to guarantee long-term survival.
Remarks:
Lemonia dumi occurs in Central, East and parts of Southern Europe (from France across N-Italy to the Balkans). It reaches S-Sweden in the North. In Central Europe there are only very few sites left.