Purpuraria erna Enderlein, 1929

Nutrition:
The animals feed on shrubby Euphorbia species. They are sometimes found quite far away from Euphorbia locations (own observations in Fuerteventura in February 2011), so that it is questionable if they can feed on other plants, too.

Habitat:
Purpuraria erna inhabits mountainous regions from about 100 to 700 meters above sea level, where it is occasionally found on slopes with the occurrence of spurges, often together with larvae of Hyles tithymali.

Life cycle:
The adults can be found year-round. They sit flat on the woody stems of the Euphorbia plants, sometimes also on other, partial dead plants or rarely rocks.

Endangerment factors:
Purpuraria erna is threatened especially in the lower altitudes by the uncontrolled development of tourism and more and more new EU-funded roads. The main risk factor is overgrazing by goats, which according to my own observations sometimes affects even the spurges that are usually despised as poisonous.

Remarks:
Purpuraria erna is endemic to Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain). In 2013 the obviously very closely related taxon Purpuraria magna López & Oromí, 2013 was described (Lanzarote).

Literature:
Heriberto López et al (2013): A taxonomic revision and species delimitation of the genus Purpuraria Enderlein, 1929 (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae) using an integrative approach.- Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, Volume 51, Issue 3, pages 173–186