Cionus nigritarsis Reitter, 1904

Widespread in Europe from the Pyrenees to the Balkan Peninsula and north into the UK and southern provinces of Norway, Sweden and Finland, also recorded from Turkey and said to be widespread in western Asia, this species is locally common in southern and central regions but much more local and scarce in the north. There is some evidence to suggest a recent expansion of the range e.g. it was first reported from The Netherlands in 1998 and from Lithuania in 2010, although this may be due to past confusion with closely similar species. In the UK it is very local and scarce across Southern and Central England with the exception of the West Country and there are a few scattered records from Wales. Typical habitats are open and dry grassland and pasture, especially on hillsides exposed to the sun, road verges, woodland clearings and ruderal sites where the host plants are common. The species is polyphagous on various Scrophulariaceae; in the UK often on Black mullein (Verbascum nigrum L.) and less so on Greater mullein (V. thaspus L.), but more generally also on White mullein (V. lychnitis L.) and Common figwort (Scrophularia nodosa L.). Adults are active from May until August although specimens occasionally occur much later, into November, and these are presumably new-generation adults that become active before overwintering. Mating occurs early in the season and females oviposit near the tips of young shoots or in flowers. The pale brown or yellowish and slug-like larvae feed exposed on leaves or in flowers and when mature they spin an oval silken cocoon in which to pupate, this is usually exposed on a narrow stem or may be among flowers or on leaves. Adults emerge in the summer and may become active on the host plant for a while or they may fly to find further host material before overwintering. Adults can be found by beating host plants; they usually occur higher up on larger plants and where the plants are common they may occur in numbers on only a few plants.