Phlogophora meticulosa (Linnaeus, 1758)

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives polyphagous on herbs, so Blechnum, Convolvulus, Rumex, Cirsium, Taraxacum, Urtica and many others.

Habitat:
Phlogophora meticulosa is an ubiquist, which can occur almost anywhere (agricultural land, forest edges, stream valleys, gardens, etc.). I found caterpillars also on Urtica on pretty shady forest trails.

Life cycle:
Phlogophora meticulosa has several generations per year. The caterpillar overwinters. The moths emerge partly still in early October, and are then often found on walls etc. But so late they can possibly no longer successfully reproduce north of the Alps.

Remarks:
Phlogophora meticulosa is widespread in Europe. North of the Alps, however, the proportion of successful wintering decreases rapidly mainly in upland areas and in cold winters and the proportion of immigrants increases. In warm winters, such as 2006/2007, however even in the Allgaeu region (Germany) many larvae were found in gardens from February to April. In warm or lowland areas such as the Upper Rhine plain, however, only few caterpillars should fall victim to the frost. Phlogophora meticulosa migrates also to Iceland. To the south it occurs in North Africa (including Azores, Madeira, some Canary Islands) and east to western and Central Asia.

The caterpillars seem to undergo no real diapause. In January 2008, I found an active caterpillar eating on the balcony (Schwäbisch Gmünd) in a flowerpot on Eryngium heart leaves.