The adults feed on the flower nectar of various flowers, including Silene, Carduus, Cirsium and Scabiosa species.
The larvae feed on the flowers of a wide range of plants, including Achillea, Scabiosa, Solidago, Senecio and Erica tetralix.
One of the riddles he tried to solve was a mysterious plant species Scabiosa trenta, described by Belsazar Hacquet and later proven by Anton Kerner von Marilaun to be a specimen of the already known Cephalaria leucantha.
Scabiosa | Centaurea scabiosa | Leaf of ''Centaurea scabiosa |