Coenonympha arcania

• Subfamily: Satyrinae - Coenonymphini
• Wingspan: 28-38 mm
• Flight period: May - Aug
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Poaceae - Gramineae, Melica nutans

Information

The Coenonympha arcania also called Pearly Heath is a butterfly belonging to the Nymphalidae family with a wingspan of 32-42 mm. It is distributed throughout most of Europe with the exception of the United Kingdom of Iceland and Finland *. It is widespread locally, common throughout Italy (excluding the islands). *

This butterfly, when placed, never shows the back of the wings and for identification it is necessary to observe the reverse. That of the front wing is orange with a white shade at the apex and the presence of a single ocellated black spot surrounded by yellow. The back of the hindquarters is brown in color with a gray shade at the base and the presence of a showy and wide white post-discal band with black ocellated spots surrounded by orange. There is also another ocello, in the frontal area of ​​the rear wing, near the costal margin. **

The Coenonympha arcania is monovoltine may in some cases have a late second generation. The flight period is between May and August with the first generation between May-June and, locally, a second partial in August.
Adults feed on the nectar of Asteraceae and other flowers. You can do it in flowery environments, meadows, edges of woods and clearings from the plain up to over 1500 meters of altitude.

The bright green caterpillar has a distinct darker head, a dark green dorsal line surrounded by white lines, as well as two white or yellowish lateral lines. It is also characterized by two caudal peduncles with pink-violet shades.

Several Coenonympha arcania host the larva, Gramineae, Melica nutans, plants of the genus Melica, Bromus, Festuca, Poa.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - European Fauna https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/