IUCN SSC Mid-Atlantic Island Invertebrates Specialist Group

Species

Back • Hipparchia bacchus Higgins, 1967

Hipparchia bacchus Higgins, 1967

El Hierro Grayling

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Order: Coleoptera
  • Family: Nymphalidae
VU Vulnerable
IUCN Red List Status:
  • EX
  • EW
  • CR
  • EN
  • VU
  • NT
  • LC
  • DD
  • NE

Countries of Occurrence:
Spain - Canaries

Archipelago(s):
Canaries

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Assessor/s:
van Swaay, C., Wynhoff, I., Verovnik, R., Wiemers, M., López Munguira, M., Maes, D., Sasic, M., Verstrael, T., Warren, M. & Settele, J.

Reviewer/s:
Lewis, O. (Butterfly RLA) & Cuttelod, A. (IUCN Red List Unit)

Contributor/s:

Facilitators / Compilers/s:

Assessment Rationale:

This species only occurs in two locations, and the area of occupancy (AOO) is less than 20 km². It is furthermore threatened by agriculture. Therefore it is classified as Vulnerable.

Geographic Range:

Restricted to two locations on the Canary Island El Hierro, between 300-1,500 m elevation. This is a European endemic species.

Regions:
Spain - Canaries
Extent of Occurrence (EOO):
(km2)
Area of Occupancy (AOO):
(km2)
Elevation Lower Limit:
300 (m)
Elevation Upper Limit:
1500 (m)
Biogeographic Realms:
Paleartic
Presence:
Extant
Origin:
Endemic Canaries
Seasonality:
Resident

Population:

This is a very local and rare European endemic, restricted to (semi-) natural areas on El Hierro, Canary Islands. It is not known how large the population is, but numbers might well be under 10,000 adults.

Habitat and Ecology

This Grayling is confined to one of the Canary Islands, El Hierro, where it can be found on the very steep and grassy cliffs and the vineyards at the base of the cliffs. It has one generation a year (Tolman and Lewington 2008). Detailed habitat descriptions are not available.

Major Threat(s):

This species is restricted to two locations on one island. It is threatened by the conversion of steep areas to vineyards and intensivation of vineyard management, including the use of insecticides.

Conservation Actions

As this species has a restricted global range and is very rare, its distribution and trend should be monitored closely, for example by a Butterfly Monitoring Scheme.