Spialia phlomidis (Herrich-Schäffer, 1845)

Host plants:
The species feeds on Convolvulus species of dry, often rocky slopes. I found eggs and caterpillars on Convolvulus lineatus (Greece).

Habitat:
Spialia phlomidis inhabits open, hot dry steppe habitats, rocky slopes, grasslands and pastures.

Life cycle:
I observed eggs and oviposition in the area of the Prespa lakes in Northern Greece in mid-July 2007. The half-grown caterpillar (L3) should hibernate. According to literature, Spialia phlomidis flies in late May and in June. Larvae which I observed in the first week of May 2008 were mostly in penultimate instar and lived in shelters at the ground. Spialia phlomidis has thus only a single generation at least in this area (1000m asl) with butterflies from mid-June to late July.

Endangerment factors:
Spialia phlomidis is increasingly endangered due to cultivation of the habitats (agriculture), but also due to construction of solar parks, overgrazing and abandonment.

Remarks:
Spialia phlomidis occurs in Europe only in the extreme southeast (southern Albania to Greece, southern Bulgaria and Turkey). The steppe species is also found in parts of Southwestern Asia.