''Coenonympha hero'', the scarce heath, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

species belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

Distribution

It can be found in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

and the North

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

(Urals East to Mongolia, Korea and Japan).

Description

It resembles '' Coenonympha arcania''.In Seitz it is described "On the upperside resembles '' Coenonympha oedippus'' smaller and just as dark, but on the hindwing 2 or 3 ocelli shine through from beneath as yellowish brown rings. On the underside itself the ocelli are placed in orange rings, and on their basal side there is a straight white line, which is thickened into knots on the veins. Northern and Central Europe and the whole of Northern Asia, from Sweden as far as the Alps, and from Belgium eastwards to the Pacific Ocean and Japan. ab. ''stolida'' Schilde, from Scandinavia, is smaller and darker, and the forewing bears a white distal band on their underside. In ab. ''perseis'' Led. ubspecies(= ''sibirica'' Stgr.) (48a), which in Eastern Asia occurs among the nymotypical form, but locally also flies alone, the white band before the row of ocelli on the underside of the hindwing is much widened. — Fruhstorfer separates from this form, as ''neoperseis'' ubspecies the specimens from Hokkaido, which are larger. — In ab. ''areteoides'' Fol., which is recorded from Belgium, the ocelli on the hindwing are obsolete. — Larva pale green, on lyme-grass (''Elymus'') and wood-grasses. In Europe the butterflies are on the wing in June and July, in Eastern Asia according to Graeser in two broods; in woods of leaved trees and in meadows « overgrown with bushes. The specimens of ''hero'' rise higher in the air in their flight than the pale species of ''Coenonympha'', and slightly recall small '' Erebias''; they occur more singly and usually very locally, and one does not easily catch more than a few specimens in one day. Seitz. A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)

Subspecies

*''Coenonympha hero latefasciata'' (Matsumura, 1925) Kunashir *''Coenonympha hero perseis'' (Lederer, 1853) Asia to the Pacific *''Coenonympha hero pilwonis'' (Matsumura, 1925) Sakhalin *''Coenonympha hero sabaeus'' (Fabricius, 1775) Northeast Europe and West Siberia *''Coenonympha hero neoperseis'' Fruhstorfer, 1908 Japan *''Coenonympha hero coreana'' Matsumura , 1927, Korea *''Coenonympha hero sabaeus'' Fabricius , 1775, Eastern Europe, Urals , West Siberia (MHNT) Coenonympha hero - Krakow Poland - male dorsal.jpg, ''Coenonympha hero'' ♂ (MHNT) Coenonympha hero - Krakow Poland - male ventral.jpg, ''Coenonympha hero'' ♂△

Biology

The butterflies fly in one generation from May to July. The larvae feed on various grasses.

Etymology

Named in the

Classical tradition The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritu ...

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

was a Greek scholar.

References

External links

Vlindernet Butterflies of Europe
Coenonympha Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1761 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Satyrini-stub