| Family | Nymphalidae |
|---|---|
| Subfamily | Satyrinae |
| Genus | Coenonympha |
| Species | arcania |
| Authority | (Linnaeus, [1760]) |
| English Name | Pearly Heath |
| European Red List 2010 | Least Concern (LC) |
|---|---|
| EU 27 Red List 2010 | Least Concern (LC) |
| European Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| EU 27 Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| Habitats Directive | |
| Bern Convention | |
| CITES |
The Pearly Heath is found on dry, to moderately damp, grasslands and grassy places at the edges of woodland or scrub. The Pearly Heath is common in some areas. The males can often be found, perched in scrub, basking in the sun, from where they chase females that pass by. In the evening, the butterflies gather together to roost communally in scrub or at wood margins. Meadow-grasses (Poa spp.), bents (Agrostis spp.), melicks (Melica spp.), fescues (Festuca spp.), and many other grasses are used as foodplants, the preferred species differing between regions. The female lays her eggs one by one or in short rows, on blades of grass. When half-grown, the caterpillar hibernates in a tussock of grass, also pupating there later, deep down in the tussock. This species has one brood a year.
Albania / Andorra / Austria / Belarus / Belgium / Belgium: Flanders (Irregular Vagrant) / Belgium: Wallonia / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bulgaria / Croatia / Czechia / Denmark (Regionally Extinct) / Estonia / France / France: Mainland / Germany / Greece / Greece: Mainland / Greece: East Aegean Islands / Hungary / Italy / Italy: Mainland / Latvia / Lithuania / Luxembourg / North Macedonia / Moldova / Montenegro / Netherlands (Regionally Extinct) / Norway / Poland / Portugal / Portugal: Mainland / Romania / European Russia / San Marino / Serbia / Serbia: Serbia / Serbia: Kosovo / Slovakia / Slovenia / Spain / Spain: Mainland / Sweden / Switzerland / European Türkiye / Ukraine /