Oxicesta chamoenices Herrich-Schäffer, 1845


Oxicesta chamoenices: Male (e.l. Cevennes, France, larva in July 2012) [S] Oxicesta chamoenices: Male (e.l. Cevennes, France, larva in July 2012) [S] Oxicesta chamoenices: Male (e.l. Cevennes, France, larva in July 2012) [S] Oxicesta chamoenices: Male (e.l. Cevennes, France, larva in July 2012) [S] Oxicesta chamoenices: Male (e.l. Cevennes, France, larva in July 2012) [S] Oxicesta chamoenices: Female (e.l. Cevennes, France, larva in July 2012) [S] Oxicesta chamoenices: Female (e.l. Cevennes, France, larva in July 2012) [S] Oxicesta chamoenices: Half-grown larvae (southern Cevennes, France, mid-July 2012) [M] Oxicesta chamoenices: Group of larvae in a webbed shelter on Euphorbia nicaeensis (Cevennes, mid-July 2012) [N] Oxicesta chamoenices: Group of larvae in a webbed shelter on Euphorbia nicaeensis (Cevennes, mid-July 2012) [N] Oxicesta chamoenices: Larva (e.l. Cevennes, Juli 2012) [S] Oxicesta chamoenices: Larva (e.l. Cevennes, Juli 2012) [S] Oxicesta chamoenices: Larva (Cevennes, mid-July 2012) [M] Oxicesta chamoenices: Fully-grown larva on Euphorbia cyparissias (Cevennes, mid-July 2012) [M] Oxicesta chamoenices: Leaved old larval host plant (Cevennes, July 2012) [N] Oxicesta chamoenices: Larval habitat is here a heavily grazed, dry pasture with Buxus scrub (Cevennes, mid-July 2012) [N]

Host plants:
Tha larva feeds on Euphorbia species. I observed them in the southern Cevennes (France) on Euphorbia nicaeensis, more rarely also on Euphorbia cyparissias und Euphorbia segueriana.

Habitat:
Oxicesta chamoenices inhabits dry, nutrient-poor pastures and steppe-like graslands. It obviously reproduces preferably in heavily grazed areas.

Life cycle:
Thy pupa hibernates. The moths are on the wing in one or two generations between May and June and more rarly again between July and September. The young caterpillars live together in groups in webbings and often leave only bare stems which are covered with webbing. The older larvae live solitarily.

Endangerment factors:
Oxicesta chamoenices is especially endangered by the reduction or even abandonment of grazing and succeeding succession to shrubland.

Remarks:
The atlanto-mediterranean species occurs in Europe only in the Iberian Peninsula, Southern France and locally further east to the Adriatic coast.



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