Xestia sexstrigata (Haworth, 1809)

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives primarily on grasses (Poaceae). I found the young caterpillar in October 2010 on the eastern Swabian Alb on Arrhenaterum elatius in a slightly damp ditch at the edge of a semi-dry grassland near the woods.

Habitat:
Xestia sexstrigata inhabits moist, grassy habitats and extensive mesophilic habitats like fens, riparian vegetation and the edges of ditches, etc. They need not necessarily very wet habitats, such as the already mentioned observation in a small, only slightly moist ditch at the edge of a semi-dry grassland shows. In this ditch I observed at the same time larvae of Mythimna impura, Rusina ferruginea and at vegetation-poor spot also Caradrina morpheus.

Life cycle:
The moths fly from July to early or mid-September in a single generation with a distinct peak in August. The caterpillar overwinters about one third grown and is mature in May. The prepupa rests often several weeks to pupation.

Remarks:
Xestia sexstrigata is apparently limited to Europe (from the Iberian Peninsula to Southern Scandinavia) and apparently penetrates eastward just to west Russia (Moscow). It is also missing in the Balkan Peninsula.