Chazara prieuri (Pierret, 1837)

Host plants:
Grasses, according to literature especially Lygeum spartum.

Habitat:
Chazara prieuri inhabits mostly grazed, very dry and hot, stony and gappily vegetated slopes with a various portion of shrub between about 600 and 2000m. It is often accompanied by Chazara briseis.

Life cycle:
The butterflies occur between late June and August. They visit flowers (e.g. thistles and Centaurea species), but rest mostly in the shadow of bushes from midday on. The larvae hibernate and should be mature in May and June. Lygeum spartum is mentioned in the literature as (only) host plant. This grass species also occurs at my observation site near Albarracin. But there are supposedly also other grasses involved. But that must be studied in the field.

Endangerment factors:
Chazara prieuri is heavily endangered by abandonment of grazing and following reforestation, but on the other hand also by overbuilding and other human activities like too intense land use.

Remarks:
Chazara prieuri occurs very locally in East Spain, app. from Murcia via Madrid to the southern hills of the Pyrenees. It is also known from NW-Africa (Morocco, Tunisia). It is extinct in Mallorca Island.