Hipparchia hermione

Hipparchia hermione, the rock grayling, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.[1] The species can be found in Central Europe, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia and the Caucasus.

"Rock grayling" redirects here. For the other butterfly with this common name, see Hipparchia semele.

Hipparchia hermione
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Nymphalidae
Genus:
Hipparchia
Species:
H. hermione
Binomial name
Hipparchia hermione
(Linnaeus, 1764)
Synonyms

Hipparchia alcyone [Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775

The wingspan is 27–34 millimetres (1.1–1.3 in).The ground colour is dark brown. There is a white submarginal band, bordered with an interrupted fringe and a large black ocellus at the apex of the forewing. The hindwing has a small ocellus with a very discrete pupil

The underside of the forewing is similar: brown with a white submarginal band and the black ocellus with white pupil at the apex, while the hindwing is marbled with brown and white with a broad white band. No sexual dimorphism.

Similar to Hipparchia fagi, but on the underside the deep dark basal area of both wings contrasts much more sharply with the light band, and the latter, which is almost pure white on the hindwing, contrasts again conspicuously with the broad dark distal margin. The conspicuousness of the pattern on the underside of the hindwing is especially noticeable in the male, but even in the duller coloured female the band on the hindwing beneath is still quite distinct, although sparsely irrorated with black.[2]

It is smaller than fagi.

Habitat Rhodes

The butterflies fly from June to September on steep rocky slopes, in open forest, margins and forest clearings and in shrubland.

The larvae feed on various types of grass.

Footnotes
  1. Hipparchia hermione at euroButterflies by Matt Rowlings
  2. Seitz, A. in Seitz. A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.


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