Eupholidoptera chabrieri (Charpentier, 1825)

Nutrition:
Insects and plant parts

Habitat:
Eupholidoptera chabrieri inhabits warm scrub, edges, clearings and quarries, often with Rubus-thickets in low and medium altitudes up to 1300m above sea level.

Life cycle:
The adults appear from mid-summer to late October. The eggs overwinter in the soil. The animals can be observed in cool but sunny weather in the morning on the edge of the bushes close to the ground, but retire in extreme heat deep into the thicket.

Remarks:
The distribution extends mainly from S-France to the southern Alps and at least central Italy (Abruzzes, ssp. brunneri). In the Southern Alps Eupholidoptera chabrieri reaches the southern Ticino (Switzerland). There it is still relatively common, even if it is pushed back through the still increasing housing sprawl and ever further agricultural intensification.
Further to the southeast (NE Italy, Balkans) there is a closely related taxon (E. schmidti) and in central and southern Italy a few other, too (e.g. E. danconai). In the southern Balkans there are many species, especially in Greece.