Apamea rubrirena (Treitschke, 1825)

Host plants:
The caterpillars live on the forest grasses (Calamagrostis, Festuca). The most important species seems to be Festuca altissima.

Habitat:
Apamea rubrirena colonized montane to subalpine coniferous forests, where clump-forming grasses are found in the undergrowth.

Life cycle:
The caterpillars overwinter and become mature, depending on altitude, between late May and early July. They live in a cavity on the surface in the root collar area of the grass clump, and generally at the upper slope side. When seeking the greenish droppings are conspicuous.
The moths fly from mid or late June to late August or early September. The peak is mostly in the second half of July.

Endangerment factors:
Apamea rubrirena is often spread only very small scale outside their main areas of distribution (e.g. Alps, other mountain ranges) and thus vulnerable to large-scale forest destruction for roads, etc. Overall, the risk is still not very strong.

Remarks:
Apamea rubrirena is widespread in the north from Norway to the east across northern Russia (taiga belt) to east Asia (Japan). Further south it is found in European and Asian mountains. In Europe, especially in the Alps and lower mountains in central, eastern and Southeastern Europe (Black Forest, Harz, Thuringian Forest, Erzgebirge, Tatras, Sudetes, Balkans, etc.).