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Abstract Climate change leads to shifts in the distribution of species and may affect the life-cycle of species. In consequence, interactions between species such as butterflies and their food-plants may become decoupled and populations can lose their original habitats. Furthermore, various processes can also be strongly influenced in the course of a life cycle. In Central Europe, such dynamics are currently affecting particularly cold-adapted species. A noteworthy example is the cold-adapted Poplar Admiral butterfly, Limenitis populi . Its larvae feed on the aspen tree Populus tremula . This butterfly species vanished from major parts of its Western Palearctic distribution over the past decades and there exist today in small and isolated relict populations, mainly in higher elevations. In this study, we conducted Species Distribution Models for L. populi and its larval food plant P. tremula . We modelled the past, current and future distribution of both species over the Western Palaearctic region, with a special emphasis on the European Alps. We considered climate- and land-use change. Our models show that both species change their distributions into higher altitudes and towards Fennoscandia. Climatic parameters such as elevation and precipitation particularly affected the distribution changes. Records collected over the past decades show that L. populi shifted significantly along the altitudinal gradient of the Alps, while P. tremula showed no significant shift into higher elevations. It can be assumed that the distribution of L. populi strongly relies on the distribution of its food plant and elevation. The climatic changes could have a strong impact on the entire life-cycle of this species, and have a particular effect on the larval and overwintering stages. With this study we would like to emphasize the relevance to consider the entire life-cycle when interpreting effects from climate change on organisms.