Minois dryas (Scopoli, 1763)


Minois dryas: Male (S-Bavaria, lake Staffelsee, July 2014) [N] Minois dryas: Male (S-Bavaria, lake Staffelsee, July 2014) [N] Minois dryas: Male (S-Bavaria, lake Staffelsee, July 2014) [N] Minois dryas: Male (S-Bavaria, lake Staffelsee, July 2014) [N] Minois dryas: Male (S-Bavaria, lake Staffelsee, July 2014) [N] Minois dryas: Male (S-Bavaria, lake Staffelsee, July 2014) [N] Minois dryas: Female (Ticino, Isone, late August 2008) [N] Minois dryas: Female (Ticino, Isone, late August 2008) [N] Minois dryas: Male upper side [S] Minois dryas: Lower side [S] Minois dryas: Ovum (Photo: Mario Peluso) [S] Minois dryas: Ovum [S] Minois dryas: L1 (e.o. Ticino 2008) [S] Minois dryas: Young larva [S] Minois dryas: Half-grown larva [S] Minois dryas: Larva in penultimate instar [S] Minois dryas: Larva in penultimate instar [S] Minois dryas: Larva in penultimate instar [S] Minois dryas: Larva in penultimate instar [S] Minois dryas: Larva in penultimate instar [S] Minois dryas: Larva in last instar [S] Minois dryas: Larva in last instar [S] Minois dryas: Larva in last instar [S] Minois dryas: Larva in last instar [S] Minois dryas: Larva [S] Minois dryas: Larva [S] Minois dryas: Pupa [S] Minois dryas: Pupa [S] Minois dryas: Habitat in the Swiss Ticino: humid forb community with Molinia at the woodland edge (late August 2008). Here occurs also Heteropterus morpheus. [N] Minois dryas: Habitat in a Molinia fen at the northern edge of the Alps (SW-Bavaria) at larval time in May [N] Minois dryas: Habitat near lake Staffelsee (S-Bavaria, July 2014) [N]

Host plants:
The larvae feed on grasses such as Molinia or Bromus.

Habitat:
Minois dryas colonizes nutrient-poor, but locally higher growing grasslands, fens or woodland clearings. Important is that these areas are still uncut at flight time. Minois dryas can occur on both dry and humid sites.
Forest clearings and fringes are used mainly south of the Alps, north of the Alps only rarely for example in coppice woodland.
In Germany Minois dryas is most often found in larger fens (Molinietum) in the southern part of the northern alpine foreland.

Life cycle:
The young caterpillar overwinters and can be found in April during the day (e.g. in wet meadows). Later instars are active only at night as it is the case with the related species. The adults fly from July to mid-September and can often be observed feeding nectar on flowers such as Lythrum or Eupatorium.

Endangerment: strongly endangered

Endangerment factors:
Risk factors are darkening processes in formerly open woodland, destruction of wetlands (intensification, afforestation) or wrongly terminated mowing.

Remarks:
The distribution ranges from Northern Spain through central and Eastern Europe and Asia to Japan.