Alpine heath
Coenonympha gardetta
The Alpine heath is a small butterfly that lives high up in the mountains of Europe. It flutters over flowery mountain meadows in summer, far above the towns and villages.
Lives in
Mountains of Europe, from the Massif Central in France to Albania, in alpine meadows
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Butterflies cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The grown-up butterfly sips nectar from flowers. Its caterpillars eat different kinds of grasses.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Alpine heath about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It lives in meadows from about 800 up to 2900 metres above the sea.
2
Each front wing is only about 15 to 16 millimetres long.
3
You can see it flying from June to September.
4
There is only one generation a year, so each summer brings just one new batch of butterflies.
5
In one mountain form the males are mouse-grey and the females brownish-grey.
you asked
Most asked questions about Alpine heath
?Where does the Alpine heath live?
In mountain meadows in Europe, from France to Albania, high above the sea.
?What does the Alpine heath caterpillar eat?
It eats different kinds of grasses.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Coenonympha gardetta
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- Europe
Where the facts come from
- Coenonympha gardetta (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Lsadonkey. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Monarch butterfly
Peacock butterfly
Blue morpho
Old World swallowtail
Small white
Eastern tiger swallowtail
Pink crab spider
Mexican grass-carrying wasp
Striped cucumber beetle
Green jumping spider
Ox beetle
Black-tailed bumblebee