Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 05.viii.2023

Hipparchia statilinus / Tree Grayling
Statilinja
Nymphalidae - Satyrinae

Hipparchia statllinus (Hufnagel, 1766). TL: Berlin, Germany.

1a. Hipparchia statilinus, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Hipparchia statilinus ♂ underside. Netherlands (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Hipparchia statilinus ♂ upperside. France (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Hipparchia statilinus ♀ underside. France (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Medium size butterfly. Fw: 23-26 mm.
Ups: sex-brand, dark grey brown gc, obscure markings.
Upf: blind ocelli in s2 and s5, often small white spots in s3 and s4.
Uph: poorly defined and interrupted dark submarginal line of lunules.
Unf: black gc, white-pupiled ocelli in s2 and s5, bigger white spots in s3 and s4.
Unh: grey-brown gc, suffused, not precisely defined brown sinuous lines bordering discal area giving poor colour contrast, unsharp scalloped submarginal line.
♀♀
Slightly larger.
Upf: obscure yellowish markings in postdiscal area, yellow ringed and white-pupiled ocelli in s2 and s5, marked white spots in s3 and s4.
Unh: pale brown gc, variable and unsharp markings.

Similar species

Hipparchia fatua Size:larger Hipparchia. Uph: sharp sm line. Unh: well defined and continuous line of external sm concave lunules. Unh: discal and pd band clearly marked by irregular dark lines.

Life cycle
Adults: single generation (at low altitude even earlier) from July to September.
Egg: 19 days.
Caterpillar: overwintering as young larva.
Pupa: 21-46 days.

Habitat
Hipparchia statilinus inhabits rocky or steppic grasslands with open soil from lowland up to 1500 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement modest, population density can be high.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed mainly on Bromus erectus, B. secalinus, B. sterilis, Dactylis glomerata, Deschampsia caespitosa, Festuca oviina, F. rubra, Ochlopoa annua and Stipa pennata. Also mentioned are Agrostis vinealis, Bothriochloa ischaemum, Brachypodium distachyon, B. phoenicoides, B. retusum, Calamagrostis epigejos, Carex halleriana, C. pilulifera, C. praecox, Danthonia decumbens, Molinia caerulea, Nardus stricta, Poa annua and S. pennata.
Butterflies feed on a large variety of flowers.

Distribution
Albania: widespread
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP* - BAL - NWE* - UK - SCA - EEU*
Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.

Conservation status
Hipparchia statilinus is not endangered.
Albanian Red List: VU.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.

Useful links
Bink 2015
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps

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