Ochropacha duplaris (Linnaeus, 1761)


Ochropacha duplaris: Adult [S] Ochropacha duplaris: Adult (e.l. river Iller near Memmingen, Southern Germany) [S] Ochropacha duplaris: Larva (Iller) [S]

Host plants:
The caterpillar feeds on alder (Alnus), more rarely also birch (Betula) and according to literature poplar (Populus).

Habitat:
Ochropacha duplaris inhabits forests, river valleys with black alder (Alnus glutinosa), birch-rich forests and peatlands, wetlands and high montane sites of gray alder (Alnus incana). I found Ochropacha duplaris in the northern Alps in 1600m above sea level.

Life cycle:
The moths fly at low altitudes in two generations from late April to June and from late July to early September. At higher altitudes, only a single generation occurs from June to early August. The caterpillars live from June to September between leaves spun together. The pupa overwinters.

Endangerment: regionally endangered or decreasing

Endangerment factors:
The principally quite adaptable species has already lost a lot of locations due to the destruction of wetlands and marshes, as well as eradication of economically almost worthless softwoods birch and alder.

Remarks:
Ochropacha duplaris occurs from Northern Spain across large parts of Europe (missing in the far south) and temperate Asia to Japan.