This is a common species. Adult banded longhorns can be found in fields and other open places where flowers are blooming as well as around lights at night. The larvae feed on decaying oak and hickory wood.

Gaillardia aristata is a North American species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. It is known by the common names common blanketflower and common gaillardia. This perennial wildflower is native to the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, but cultivars have been introduced in much of North America and Europe. Blanketflower is an early- to mid-successional species typically found growing alongside native grasses, sagebrush, or conifers.