There are up to two generations per year. Adults emerge in early to mid-summer when cypress and leafy spurge are bolting/flowering. Females lay 70–150 eggs in clumps on leaves and bracts. Hatching larvae feed on these plant parts as cypress and leafy spurge are flowering. Larvae feed through five instars, and then pupation occurs in the soil. In locations and years where late summer temperatures are sufficiently high to speed up egg and larval development, second generation adults emerge in late summer and repeat the cycle. Newly hatched larvae move to the soil to pupate. Regardless of whether there are one or two generations, pupae overwinter.