''Coenonympha arcania'', the pearly 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, and Scandinavia.

Description

It resembles '' Coenonympha hero''. Seitz describes it thus ''C. arcania'' L. (48 d). Forewing fiery reddish yellow with black distal margin, hindwing dark brown. Easily recognised by the underside of the hindwing, whose marginal portion is occupied by a broad white band, which in the nymotypical form interrupts the row of ocelli below the apical eye, the latter therefore appearing to be placed on the inside of the white band. All Europe except great Britain, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean sea and from Spain and France to the Black sea and Armenia. — Specimens with a very broadly black margin to the forewing and a narrowed and slightly dentate band on the underside of the hindwing, which probably occur among nymotypical specimens everywhere, but especially in the South, are considered as ab. ''insubrica'' Frey

var. In botanical nomenclature, variety (abbreviated var.; in ) is a taxonomic rank below that of species and subspecies, but above that of Form (botany), form. As such, it gets a three-part Infraspecific name (botany), infraspecific name. It is s ...

48 d). — Larva green with dark dorsal stripe bordered with a yellowish tint, light subdorsal stripe and pale yellow lateral stripe; head blue-green, mouth and anal fork red. Until May on grasses. Pupa brown, with whitish wing-cases edged with red. Butterflies very common in June and July and often flying together in large numbers. At the edge of woods full of undergrowth, but also in the open country and on hills. They affect flying round bushes and settle on the tip of low twigs, but sometimes also fly up into the higher branches of trees. The females are much less numerous than the males and appear later. (MHNT) Coenonympha arcania - Foret de Bouconne, France - male dorsal.jpg, ''Coenonympha arcania'' ♂ (MHNT) Coenonympha arcania - Foret de Bouconne, France - male ventral.jpg, ''Coenonympha arcania'' ♂ △ (MHNT) Coenonympha arcania - Foret de Bouconne, France - female dorsal.jpg, ''Coenonympha arcania'' ♀ (MHNT) Coenonympha arcania - Foret de Bouconne, France - female ventral.jpg, ''Coenonympha arcania'' ♀ △

Biology

Depending on the temperature, they are found an altitude of up to 1,800 meters. They are found almost everywhere, preferring to live in sun-drenched and lightly wooded forests and on forest edges and on bushy, dry grasslands. The butterflies fly in one generation from May to August. They usually sit in sunny spots with their wings closed. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e feed on various

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

es including ''

Holcus lanatus ''Holcus lanatus'' is a perennial flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. The specific epithet ' is Latin for 'woolly' which describes the plant's hairy texture. Common names include Yorkshire fog, tufted grass, and meadow soft grass. In Nor ...

'' and ''

Festuca ovina ''Festuca ovina'', sheep's fescue or sheep fescue, is a species of grass. It is sometimes confused with hard fescue (''Festuca trachyphylla''). General description It is a perennial plant sometimes found in acidic ground, and in mountain pastur ...

''.The females lay their eggs individually or in small groups on the stalks of the forage plants. The caterpillars overwinter young. Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: ''Die Tagfalter Europas und Nordwestafrikas'', S. 241f, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7

Etymology

From Latin Arcania - mysterious, secretive.

References

External links

Vlindernet

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