Hipparchia genava

Host plants:
The larva feeds on grasses.

Habitat:
Hipparchia genava inhabits nutrient-poor grasslands with changing grove proportion, forest near, rocky and dry grassland slopes and similar habitats.

Life cycle:
Hipparchia genava hibernates as an half-grown caterpillar (L3-L4), which is mature in May/June. I found adults on Mont Ventoux (French Alps) in July 2002. Here Hipparchia genava occurs together with Zygaena fausta and Chazara briseis on a south facing, very dry and meagre slope in about 1400m above sea level.

Endangerment: threatened with extinction

Remarks:
Hipparchia genava can be separated from Hipparchia alcyone only by genital section or by consideration of the distribution.

Hipparchia genava occurs only in Italy, in southwestern Switzerland and in France (Alps, Massif Central, Jura).

The distribution of the sibling species Hipparchia alcyone covers local Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula. Separated from this part, there is another range from eastern Germany and eastern Austria further to the east. An isolated population occurs in coastal ares of southern Norway.