(Esper, 1780)
Mallow Skipper
Description:
The Mallow Skipper is a butterfly of warm, grassy places, usually with rough vegetation, as, for example, rough patches on warm slopes.
It is a mobile butterfly, that strays outside its usual habitat, and that thus can be met in unexpected places.
In warm summers, they migrate northwards and can be seen in warm, south-facing river valleys. The resident populations are usually small. The butterflies are often seen visiting flowers for nectar. They also spend a lot of their time basking in the sun, their wings widespread, showing to full advantage their beautiful purple to olive-green metallic sheen.
Eggs are laid singly on the upperside of the leaves of mallows (Malva ssp.). The caterpillars thrive on this food, growing very quickly, with the result that up to three or more broods may be produced in a year.
As winter approaches, the fully-grown caterpillars make a cocoon in the litter layer. They pupate in the spring.
Habitat:
Fallow land and waste places
Dry siliceous grasslands
Dry calcareous grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Similar species:
Carcharodus floccifera
Carcharodus orientalis
Carcharodus baeticus