The common name European lantern fly is actually derived from a species (Fulgora laternaria) belonging to another family (Fulgoridae).

[3] This species can be found in most of Europe, in North Africa and in the eastern Palearctic realm (Afghanistan, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and Xinjiang).

[6] The rarer subspecies Dictyophara europaea rosea shows a pinkish body.

The eggs are deposited by the female in the soil and thereby individually covered with earth by special structures of the ovipositor.

The main recorded host plants belong to the family of Asteraceae (Achillea millefolium, Crepis foetida, Sonchus asper), Poaceae (Agropyron repens, Setaria viridis), Amaranthaceae (Amaranthus retroflexus), Ranunculaceae (Clematis vitalba) and Plantaginaceae (Linaria vulgaris).