Ocnogyna clathrata (Lederer, 1855)

Host plants:
The larvae are very polyphagous on herbaceous plants, very rarely also grasses.

Habitat:
Ocnogyna clathrata inhabits various open or semiopen and most often dry and warm habitats like gravel banks, garigues, mountain slopes, fallow land, goat pastures etc.

Life cycle:
The moths occur in (early) winter. The larvae develop between February (near the coast) and May or June (higher altitudes) and are often abundant. I recorded masses of mostly still young larvae in Cyprus (Paphos district) in about 500m in mid-April 2017. Young larvae live in large groups and in webbings especially when moulting. Older larvae live singly. The pupa aestivates.

Remarks:
Ocnogyna clathrata occurs in Cyprus, Rhodos Island (Greece) and the Levante, supposedly also in S-Turkey. Ocnogyna loewii is a different species with more Eastern distribution.