CreatureData

Cretan small heath

Coenonympha thyrsis Freyer, 1846

Status not recordedbutterflies and moths

The cretan small heath (Coenonympha thyrsis) is a species in the family Nymphalidae, order Lepidoptera.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the cretan small heath

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
2.5 cm – 2.9 cm
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
flowers
Habitat
grassland
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
On the wing
April, October
Generations a year
Two
Larval food plants
Poaceae family
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the cretan small heath?

CRETAN SMALL HEATH · WINGSPAN 2.9 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 2.9 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the cretan small heath is about 1.7% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the cretan small heath live?

Not recorded

Is the cretan small heath endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the cretan small heath classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderLepidoptera
  5. familyNymphalidae
  6. genusCoenonympha
  7. SpeciesCoenonympha thyrsis Freyer, 1846

Synonyms Coenonympha cretica, Coenonympha stepaneki, Hipparchia thyrsis

Other names and names in other languages (3)
  • Kretischer HeufalterGerman
  • Fadet crétoisFrench
  • KretahooibeestjeDutch

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the cretan small heath

Other species in the same genus Coenonympha.

Pearly heath

Coenonympha arcania

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

Large heath

Coenonympha tullia

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

Dusky heath

Coenonympha dorus

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

CompareCretan small heath vs Small heathCretan small heath vs Pearly heathCretan small heath vs Scarce heathCretan small heath vs False Ringlet

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the cretan small heath?

An adult cretan small heath has a wingspan of 2.5 cm – 2.9 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

What does the cretan small heath eat?

Its recorded main food is flowers.

What kind of animal is the cretan small heath?

The cretan small heath (Coenonympha thyrsis) belongs to the family Nymphalidae in the order Lepidoptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Cretan small heath (Coenonympha thyrsis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cretan-small-heath

MLA

“Cretan small heath (Coenonympha thyrsis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cretan-small-heath.

BibTeX
@misc{cretan_small_heath_2026,
  title = {Cretan small heath (Coenonympha thyrsis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cretan-small-heath},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}