Coenonympha macromma Turati & Verity, 1911

Host plants:
The larvae feed on grasses like Festuca, Nardus, Poa and Agrostis.

Habitat:
Coenonympha macromma inhabits open and semi-open pastures and other grassland slopes above 1400m, mostly above 1800 and up to more than 2400m in the southwestern Alps.

Life cycle:
The adults usually occur in one generation between late June and early August. I recorded worn individuals of both sexes on the Col d'Allos between 2200 and 2400m in early August 2021. The oviposition occurs singly most often near the ground on blades. The larvae hibernate often in the penultimate, but also in the antepenultimate instar. The pupa is usually suspended near the ground on blades, e.g. in grass tufts.

Remarks:
The taxon is restricted to the southwestern Alps in the border area between France and Italy. The sister taxa C. gardetta and darwiniana miss there largely. But the very similar C. arcania is widespread in this region, but allegedly occurs not above 1800m. I think that Coenonympha macromma is very closely related to arcania. The larvae of gardetta are deviant (e.g. more contrasty). It is not finally solved if they are really species of their own. It would be interesting to investigate if there are any reproductory barriers. Perhaps it would be also appropriate to list Coenonympha macromma as altitudinal form or subspecies of arcania.