Spaelotis senna (Freyer, 1829)


Spaelotis senna: Adult (e.l. Valais 2009) [S] Spaelotis senna: Adult (e.l. Valais 2009) [S] Spaelotis senna: Adult [S] Spaelotis senna: Adult [S] Spaelotis senna: Larva [M] Spaelotis senna: Larva [S] Spaelotis senna: Larva [S] Spaelotis senna: Larva [S] Spaelotis senna: Larva in last instar (Valais, Stalden) [S] Spaelotis senna: Larva lateral [S] Spaelotis senna: Larva (detail head) [S] Spaelotis senna: Pupa [S] Spaelotis senna: Habitat in the Valais [N]

Host plants:
The caterpillar is polyphagous. I found them in the Valais on Onobrychis and especially Artemisia campestris.

Habitat:
Spaelotis senna colonizes hot dry steppe slopes with stony or rocky areas.

Life cycle:
The caterpillar overwinters. I found them between mid- to late April during the day in the sunshine concealed in the maze of last years stalks and grasses or at the base of Artemisia campestris clumps. The moths fly from June to August.

Endangerment factors:
Spaelotis senna is heavily endangered on its few Central European sites by habitat destruction (viticulture, overbuilding, succession etc.).

Remarks:
The distribution extends from Morocco across Southern Europe to southern Russia, Asia Minor and Afghanistan. The northernmost occurrences in Central Europe are observed in the Valais and in some valleys of the Southern Alps.



Spaelotis ravida 
German version / deutsche Version