Coenonympha arcania (Linnaeus, 1761)


Coenonympha arcania: Male (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Adult (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany) [N] Coenonympha arcania: Adult (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany) [N] Coenonympha arcania: Adult (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany, June 2012) [N] Coenonympha arcania: Adult (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany, June 2012) [N] Coenonympha arcania: Adult (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany, June 2012) [N] Coenonympha arcania: Adult (e.l. Alpes-Maritimes 2012) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Starting adult (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany, June 2012) [N] Coenonympha arcania: Adult (Massif Central, Mont Lozère, July 2012) [N] Coenonympha arcania: Adult (N-Greece, Smolikas, late June 2013) [N] Coenonympha arcania: Adult (eastern Swabian Alb, Söhnstetten, Sturz, July 2013) [N] Coenonympha arcania: Lower side [N] Coenonympha arcania: Adult [N] Coenonympha arcania: Ovum (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany 2012) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Young larva (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Larva [S] Coenonympha arcania: Larva (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Larva [S] Coenonympha arcania: Larva (e.l. Alpes-Maritimes, late April 2012) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Larva (e.l. Alpes-Maritimes 2012) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Pupa (e.l. Alpes-Maritimes 2012) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Typical pupa (e.l. eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Light pupa without stripes (e.l. eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany, rarer form) [S] Coenonympha arcania: Species-rich habitat on the Swabian Alb [N] Coenonympha arcania: Habitat on the eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany (2009), where also Coenonympha hero occurs.  [N]

Host plants:
The larva feeds on grasses such as Brachypodium, Festuca and Bromus.

Habitat:
Coenonympha arcania colonizes woody nutrient-poor grasslands (especially near forests), clearings in floodplain woodlands and in light forests and bushy slopes. The butterflies like to sit on low shrubs. On the eastern Swabian Alb, Coenonympha arcania is often syntopic with Coenonympha hero on to damp clearings, but appears a bit later.

In the Southwestern Alps Coenonympha arcania rises up to at least 1600m above sea level as an caterpillar observation shows (Alpes-Maritimes, April 2012).

Life cycle:
The adults fly in one generation in June/July (still rarely in early August or already in late May). The caterpillar overwinters. I found larvae in juniper heathlands near the forest in April (Swabian Jura). The butterflies visit in the first half of the flight time rarely blooms. Later, you can watch it feeding at Rubus, Solidago and other flowering species.

Endangerment: regionally endangered or decreasing

Endangerment factors:
Coenonympha arcania is in strong decline in some regions. This species is already extinct, for example in the south German Iller region (a river from the Alps) due to the disappearance of the dry clearings in the floodplain woodlands.

Altogether, Coenonympha arcania itself is still not threatened by extinction (contrary to Coenonympha hero) because its habitat requirements are not too specific and mainly refer to the combination of extensive grassland with bushes and woodland.

Remarks:
The distribution ranges across Europe to the Western Asia.



Coenonympha corinna | Coenonympha darwiniana | Coenonympha dorus | Coenonympha gardetta | Coenonympha glycerion | Coenonympha hero | Coenonympha leander | Coenonympha macromma | Coenonympha oedippus | Coenonympha pamphilus | Coenonympha rhodopensis | Coenonympha thyrsis | Coenonympha tullia