Hipparchia alcyone ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)

Host plants:
The larva feeds on grasses, often Festuca.

Habitat:
Hipparchia alcyone inhabits dry and warm, often shrubby places such as woodland margins, bushy, stony slopes, open, stony or sandy forests, pastures and similar biotops.

Life cycle:
The butterflies are observed between late June and early September. The larva hibernates and is mature mostly in May.

Endangerment factors:
Hipparchia alcyone is endangered in eastern Central Europe due to the loss of open sandy woodlands and grasslands.

Remarks:
Hipparchia alcyone occurs in Europe in the Iberian Peninsula and then disjunct in the northeast from East Germany and East Austria eastward. A local occurrence exists in S-Norway. The distribution of the similar Hipparchia genava is located partly in between (S-France, W-Switzerland, Italy).

Hipparchia alcyone also occurs in Morocco.