Coscinia cribraria (Linnaeus, 1758)

Host plants:
The species is polyphagous, but feeds especially on grasses. Also moss and lichens.

Habitat:
North of the Alps, Coscinia cribraria inhabits usually sandy heaths and bright sandy pine forests. South of the Alps, it occurs on dry mountain meadows with stony or rocky sections and in the Mediterranean area in the maquis, garrigues and sparse forests.

Life cycle:
North of the Alps, Coscinia cribraria flies similar to Spiris striata in a single generation in June/July. In lowlands south of the Alps, however, Coscinia cribraria occurs in two generations, e.g. in the Massif de la Sainte Baume near Marseille, with butterflies in May/June and August/September. In the Alps above 1000m above sea level Coscinia cribraria is again mostly univoltine.
I observed many larvae together with those of Syntomis phegea and Parnassius apollo at stone bars in April/May in the Italian Valle Susa, the Provence or South Tyrol. The caterpillars have a similar behaviour as that of Spiris striata.

Endangerment: endangered

Endangerment factors:
North of the Alps, Coscinia cribraria is very vulnerable to changes in the sandy heaths and sand pine forests (afforestation with dense monocultures, mining, overbuilding, agriculture). In Southern Europe and the Southern Alps, Coscinia cribraria is in contrast still quite common in rocky terrain.

Remarks:
Coscinia cribraria is distributed in Northwest Africa and many parts of Europe. It lacks, for example, in the northern Alps and throughout Baden-Württemberg.