Jordanita subsolana is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Zygaenidae

Zygaenidae

The Zygaenidae moths are a family of Lepidoptera. The majority of zygaenids are tropical, but they are nevertheless quite well represented in temperate regions. There are about 1000 species. Various species are commonly known as Burnet or Forester moths, often qualified by the number of spots,...

 family. It is found from southern Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 though the southern part of central Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, the Balkan Peninsula and Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 to southern Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 and Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and Transcaucasia up to the Altai

Altai Republic

Altai Republic is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the town of Gorno-Altaysk. The area of the republic is . Population: -Geography:...

.

The length of the forewings is 12-16 mm for males and 9-12.5 mm for females. Adults are on wing from the end of June to the start of August in central Europe and from May to July in the southern part of the range.

Various populations live more or less monophagous on various host plants. In Spain, larvae have been recorded on Carduncellus monospeliensium, while they have been recorded on Cirsium eriophorum

Cirsium eriophorum

Cirsium eriophorum or Woolly thistle is a herbaceous biennial species of the genus Cirsium....

in France, Italy, Switzerland and southern Austria. In Germany, larvae feed on Carlina vulgaris

Carlina vulgaris

Carline Thistle is a species of the genus Carlina....

and in eastern Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary the food plant is Echinops spaherocephalus. Young larvae mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a fleck mine. The opening is a slit at the side of the mine.

The species overwinters in the larval stage. After hibernation, the larvae feed on the leaves of their host plant. Later instars feed on the heart of the plant and final instar larvae bore the roots, where pupation takes place in a dark brown cocoon.