Lasiommata petropolitana (Fabricius, 1787)

Host plants:
The larva feeds on grasses (Poaceae, perhaps also Cyperaceae).

Habitat:
Lasiommata petropolitana inhabits bushy alpine pastures and especially forest gap systems, often with rocks, from 800m above sea level up to 2200m. In the German Allgäu Alps it is a quite common species.

Life cycle:
Lasiommata petropolitana occurs in a single generation and is on the wing between late April and July. Usually (but presumably not always) the pupa overwinters so that the butterflies appear rather early in the mountain spring.

Endangerment factors:
In the Alpine region, Lasiommata petropolitana is not severly endangered. But some habitats are destroyed because of the general human land greed (tourism, agriculture, forestry) and because of succession after abandonment. An increasing separation of pastures and forest will be very disadvantageous for Lasiommata petropolitana in the long term.

Remarks:
The distribution ranges from the mountains of Europe (Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians, Balkans) and Scandinavia east to the Amur region.