Pixel Wild
Small Heath
Small Heath
Coenonympha pamphilus
Insecta
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
A few weeks
Size
Small
Diet
Herbivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Solitary
Biome
Temperate grassland
Range
Eurasia and North Africa
Movement
Flight
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Camouflage
Status
Common

About

The Small Heath is a delicate tawny-orange grassland butterfly found across Europe and Central Asia. Unusually for a butterfly, it almost always rests with its wings closed, flashing only the underside — a sandy grey-buff hindwing marked with a faint eyespot chain.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg
    A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
  2. 2.
    caterpillar
    A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
  3. 3.
    chrysalis
    A chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
  4. 4.
    butterfly
    A winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Lepidoptera
Family
Nymphalidae
Genus
Coenonympha
Species
Coenonympha pamphilus