Acronicta orientalis Mann, 1862

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives according to literature on deciduous woods such as Pyrus and Prunus. I found the caterpillar in Northern Greece in July 2010 on Paliurus spina-christi.

Habitat:
In Northern Greece Acronicta orientalis inhabits dry warm steppe slopes with loose scrub with Paliurus spina-christi and others. Acronicta orientalis shares its habitat there with Orthosia rorida and Tarucus balkanicus.

Life cycle:
The pupa hibernates. The moths fly from late April to early July in a single generation. The caterpillars live from June to August. I observed them open in the sunshine in the second half of July 2010 north of Kozani in the Askio mountainse on a bare shoot of Paliurus spina-christi about 30cm above the ground.

Remarks:
Acronicta orientalis occurs in Europe only in the Balkan Peninsula from ex-Yugoslavia and Romania to Greece in the south. Additionally, it occurs in parts of Western Asia (e.g. Asia Minor).