(Elwes and Edwards, 1897)
Description:
Only the genitalia, both of the males and females, distinguish this butterfly from the Grizzled Skipper (P. malvae). It can be found in a variety of damp and dry habitats, like acid or calcareous grasslands, heathlands, bogs, rocky slopes and open scrub. Sometimes small areas of just some tens of square metres can be used for breeding.. The caterpillars feed on different sorts of cinquefoils (Potentilla spp.), agrimony (Agrimonia spp.), and strawberry (Fragaria spp.), especially on tormentil (Potentilla erecta). When the caterpillars are fully-grown, they leave the larval food plant and spin a cocoon at its foot in which to pupate. This species has mostly two generations a year, but at higher altitude only one. It passes the winter as a chrysalis.
Habitat:
Dry siliceous grasslands
Dry calcareous grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Similar species:
Pyrgus malvae
Pyrgus alveus
Pyrgus armoricanus