Hadena irregularis (Hufnagel, 1766)

Host plants:
Silene otites and Gypsophila fastigiata

Habitat:
Hadena irregularis colonizes hot steppe biotopes, rocky slopes and sandy grasslands. It also occurs on gypsum.

Life cycle:
The moths fly in May and June and again in an partial second generation from mid-July. The pupa overwinters. I collected larvae with Silene otites around the 20th May 2007 on a rocky slope in the Susa Valley, and in mid-June 2007 and 2012 in Valais, also with Silene otites. I found moths in both regions during the day resting on flowers of Silene otites.

Endangerment: threatened with extinction

Endangerment factors:
In Germany Hadena irregularis is threatened with extinction by habitat destruction. It still occurs only in a few, very warm areas, such as at the Kyffhäuser mountains. In the Southern Alps the steppe-like rocky slopes are also in decline due to viticulture, afforestation, succession after abandonment of extensive grazing and overbuilding (houses etc.).

Remarks:
The total distribution ranges from the Pyrenees to Siberia. Isolated populations occur in England and Sweden. Hadena irregularis is yet most common in dry valleys of south-central and the Southern Alps, but there also pushed back more and more, for example in the Valais.