Staurophora celsia (Linnaeus, 1758)

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives on grasses (Poaceae), where it creates a webbed cavity in the base/root collar region.

Habitat:
Staurophora celsia is found mainly in sparse pine forests, often on sandy soil or dry steppe slopes.

Life cycle:
The caterpillar lives from April to July. The moths fly in late summer and early autumn from late August to October.

Endangerment: strongly endangered

Endangerment factors:
Staurophora celsia is threatened by conversion of grass-rich, light-pine forests into dark forests and their overbuilding and fragmentation (roads, industrial areas).

Remarks:
Staurophora celsia is distributed more north-east and occurs to the west about to the Lüneburg Heath and Bavaria (very local even a little further west). In east Germany, it is locally a bit more widespread. It also occurs in South Tyrol.