The caterpillars feed on various blossoms such as Senecio, Anthemis, Peucedanum, Knautia, Centaurea or Eupatorium. I found larvae in the green color variant on Hypericum perforatum (Upper Rhine, September 2011).
Eupithecia centaureata inhabits many open and semi-open, at most extensively cultivated habitats.
The moths fly in usually two generations from late April to June and July to mid-September. The caterpillars are found then from June to October.
Eupithecia centaureata is not endangered.
The distribution extends from north Africa across Europe to Mongolia.