Xestia collina (Boisduval, 1840)

Host plants:
The caterpillars are polyphagous. Vaccinium myrtillus and Vaccinium uliginosum should be the most important host plants. In the Black Forest, I found about a dozen young caterpillars exclusively on Vaccinium myrtillus-bushes in 1000m asl in early October 2010.

Habitat:
Xestia collina inhabits mostly acidophilous mountain forests. Especially important are clear stages with a dense carpet of blueberry in the understory. There often occur Hypena crassalis and Hyppa rectilinea as companion species. The larval habitats are mostly in shade or partial shade (northern Black Forest, in early October 2010).

Life cycle:
The young caterpillars are quite active in the autumn and can then be tapped from blueberry. They overwinter in the last but two instar and are nocturnal in spring. The moths fly in a single generation from late June to August.

Endangerment factors:
Xestia collina requires clear, older mountain forests (usually spruce or spruce/fir, also larch in the Alps), which are neither too tight nor should be cut down in a large area. Overall, the threat is probably at least in the Alps and particularly in the boreal distribution only slightly.

Remarks:
Xestia collina occurs in some European mountains (Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians, Black Forest, Bavarian Forest, Harz and some other mountain ranges). It is also found from Norway eastward to the Amur and Western China. In the south the Caucasus is reached.