There are two broods, flying mid May - mid July and early August - mid September.

The larval food plants are various common grasses including Cock's Foot and Yorkshire Fog.

This was a common species on farm land in Essex. I saw it regularly alongside one particular hedge in Great Bardfield in the 1960s. In the current retraction of its range it is still seen near the coast in East Anglia, and at a few inland sites such as the Engine Bank at Mepal. Here the river bank edges have small portions broken away by grazing cattle, leaving a broken edge as is favoured by the female Wall for egg laying.