Adults are active during the night and day and feed on flower nectar of Calluna vulgaris, Origanum vulgare and Molinia species.
The larvae feed on various herbaceous plants, such as nettle, Lamium, thistles and oregano.
At a recent show spice growers from Peermade displayed samples of organically grown spices like cardamom, black pepper, white pepper, nutmeg, mace, cloves, turmeric, ginger, vanilla beans, vanilla powder and herbs like oregano, sage, thyme and rosemary.
The insect can also be very common where there are creeping thistles (Cirsium arvense) or swamp thistles (Cirsium palustre), oregano (Origanum vulgare), Forest scabious (Knautia sylvatica), or hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) which are favourite foodplants of the imagos.