Issoria lathonia (Linnaeus, 1758)


Issoria lathonia: Adult (Olympus, 2500m above sea level, late July 2012) [N] Issoria lathonia: Female (N-Greece, Vitsi N Kastoria, late June 2013) [N] Issoria lathonia: Male (east Pyrenees, Canigou, 1700m asl, mid-October 2013) [N] Issoria lathonia: Adult (Northern Greece, Askio mountains near Siatista, late June 2013) [N] Issoria lathonia: Adult (Olympus, Greece, 1000m above sea level, August 2012) [N] Issoria lathonia: Adult (Olympus, 1000m above sea level, August 2012) [N] Issoria lathonia: Upper side [S] Issoria lathonia: Adult (Pindos, Northern Greece, July 2011) [N] Issoria lathonia: Female (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany, July 2011) [N] Issoria lathonia: Upper side [N] Issoria lathonia: Adult that has been catched by a Thomisidae spider (Northern Greece, July 2010) [N] Issoria lathonia: Mating [N] Issoria lathonia: Lower side [M] Issoria lathonia: Oviposition on Viola corsica (Sardinia, Gennargentu, late September 2018) [N] Issoria lathonia: Oviposition on Viola corsica (Sardinia, Gennargentu, late September 2018) [N] Issoria lathonia: Half-grown larva [S] Issoria lathonia: Half-grown larva (Sardinia, May 2012) [M] Issoria lathonia: Half-grown larva (Greece, Olympus, May 2010) [M] Issoria lathonia: Larva (Olympus) [M] Issoria lathonia: Larva (Olympus) [M] Issoria lathonia: Larva (Olympus) [M] Issoria lathonia: Larva (Sardinia, May 2012) [N] Issoria lathonia: Larva (Simplon-Pass, late August 2007) [N] Issoria lathonia: Pupa [S] Issoria lathonia: Pupa [S] Issoria lathonia: Pupa [S] Issoria lathonia: Typical habitat on the eastern Swabian Alb in Southern Germany: mixture of fields and grasslands (August 2006) [N] Issoria lathonia: Habitat in Northern Greece (Vitsi, July 2010) [N]

Host plants:
Viola spp. Viola arvensis is the usual host plant in arable fields, whereas it is often Viola hirta in grassland areas.

Habitat:
Issoria lathonia colonizes open land of all kinds, as long as larval host plants are available. It is particularly common in arable areas on limestone or sand. I observed oviposition in juniper grasslands on twigs and leaves on the ground as well as on the larval host plant Viola hirta and on fields on blades and Viola arvensis. In the Alps, Issoria lathonia rises up to 2500m above sea level, but is probably indigenous only to the Southern Alps. So I found a fully-grown caterpillar in 2300m above sea level on the Simplon Pass in Valais.

In Greece, I observed larvae on a debris site at a forest edge on Viola arvensis on Mount Olympus at 1000m above sea level in May 2010.

Life cycle:
Issoria lathonia is on the wing in several generations per year. The caterpillar overwinters mostly as L4 and is active again on the first sunny days in the early spring. I observed first butterflies in the Swabian Alb in April. Last adults of the alleged third generation can still be registered in late October.

Endangerment factors:
After a deep low point in the last decades Issoria lathonia became quite common in Central Europe in recent years and is likely to be at only little risk. Mainly the intensification of agriculture (over-fertilization, spraying, immediate furrowing) should limit the available habitat area severely.

Remarks:
The overall distribution ranges from North Africa across Europe and Asia to India and Mongolia.