Thysanoplusia orichalcea (Fabricius, 1775)

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives polyphagous on mostly herbaceous plants. I found caterpillars in La Palma on a ruderal site on Echium, Foeniculum and Solanaceae. In La Gomera, the larvae were common in February 2013 on Bidens, Geranium and Bituminaria bituminosa and on Madeira (March 2013) on Galinsoga.

Habitat:
Thysanoplusia orichalcea inhabits especially farmland, gardens, ravines (barrancos), coastal areas, herb edges and residential areas in warm regions.

Life cycle:
To the south, Thysanoplusia orichalcea has a continuous succession of generations. I found caterpillars for example in the Canaries and Madeira in winter and spring. In Central Europe they immigrate very rarely and only in low density. The mature caterpillars hide during the day often at the base of the larval food plant and therefore are found less frequently than those of the Chrysodeixis chalcites. But especially younger instars feed and rest quite openly on the plants.

Remarks:
Thysanoplusia orichalcea occurs throughout Africa, in the southern part of Asia and Australia. In addition, it is found in the Atlantic islands (Canaries, Madeira, Azores) and in Southern Europe (Southern Spain, Southern Italy, Southern Greece) Further north, it occurs only occasionally as a rare migrant butterfly to about England and Germany.