Mountains from Syria and Mesopotamia to Middle Asia and Afghanistan. In general, geographical variation can hardly be traced due to the great individual and ecological variability.
Some specimens are close to the ssp.
Dry mountain slopes at 400-2,500 m a.s.l. May-August depending on local conditions. Phlomoides canescens and Phlomis thapsoides in Turkmenia, Phlomis bucharica and Ph. fruticetorum in Darvaz. Larvae hiding in host plant leaves woven together.