(Rambur, 1839)
Carline Skipper
Description:
The Carline Skipper prefers dry, south-facing slopes with quite short vegetation. However, they can also be seen on damp grasslands, and in very open larch woods. Large numbers can sometimes occur locally. The female lays her eggs singly on the underside of the leaves of various cinquefoils (Potentilla spp.). The caterpillar remains in the egg during the winter, emerging in the spring. It then spins a shelter by attaching a leaf of the food plant to the ground, in which it lives, hidden.
It pupates close to the ground, and has one generation a year.
Habitat:
Alpine grasslands
Dry siliceous grasslands
Dry calcareous grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Humid grasslands
Inland sand-dunes
Similar species:
Pyrgus cirsii
Pyrgus onopordi
Pyrgus cinarae