Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Host plants:
The larva feeds on grasses (Poaceae).

Habitat:
Coenonympha pamphilus inhabits open land as for example extensive meadows, fens, nutrient-poor grasslands and pastures. Sometimes it is also found in larger woodland clearings. Previously the moth was common in the agricultural fields on margins and grassy paths. There it occurs today only rarely due to intensification.

Life cycle:
Coenonympha pamphilus usually flies in three generations per year. The adults fly from April/May (in the south already from late February) to early or mid-October. The caterpillar overwinters in the penultimate instar (here L3). The pupation oftemn occurs in tufts of grass (Festuca). I recorded the pupa several times in the field.

Endangerment factors:
Coenonympha pamphilus is still the most common species of the genus in Central Europe. The butterfly is still to be observed in every extensive grassland (e.g. Swabian Alb) and often in partially dewatered fens, as well as on pastures in the foothills of the northern Alps up to around 1400m above sea level. But it is now quite rare in many other regions. Near Memmingen (Germany) it is extinct in most places and is nowadays almost only found in the vicinity of wetlands in meadows that are mown not more often than twice a year.

Remarks:
The distribution ranges from Northwest Africa across Europe and Asia to Mongolia.

In NW-Africa and at least the southern two thirds of the Iberian Peninsula, maybe also in Sicily, the taxon lyllus occurs. It shows different L1-larvae with a dark brown head capsule whereas this capsule is light in pamphilus. Other species with dark L1 head are C. corinna and C. dorus. If C. dorus had genetical influence on lyllus is speculative. Some authors see in lyllus a bona species. The real differences especially in L1 justify an own taxon. I regard it a subspecies of pamphilus. Further research is needed!