Conistra fragariae (Vieweg, 1790)

Host plants:
The caterpillar is polyphagous and is feeding on herbs and occasionally shrubs.

Habitat:
Conistra fragariae inhabits bush- and edge-rich, extensively managed habitats like stepped edges of forests with herbaceous and bushy mantles, shrub-rich slopes and similar places. The exact requirements are still insufficiently known.

Life cycle:
The moths overwinter and lay their eggs in the spring. The caterpillar develops until late June or early July and rests then for a few weeks as Prepupa. The moths emerge from late August, especially in September.

Endangerment: threatened with extinction

Endangerment factors:
Because of not clearly known causes Conistra fragariae is already extinct for example in southwestern Germany. One reason is certainly the extreme decline of lighter forests through strict forest-pasture separation, straightening of all now coatless forest edges and extreme dark forest management. But that alone can not so well explain the extreme decline because of the not too high requirements on the habitat (?). Probably another reason is global warming with more Atlantic winters in Central Europe.

Remarks:
The distribution extends from Central Europe across temperate Asia to Japan. In the west, however, it is already extinct in many places.