(Oberthür, 1910)
Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper
Description:
Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper likes warmth, occurring on poor grassland, both in the dunes and on dry, chalk slopes. In the north of its range, the populations are small, but large numbers of butterflies make up the southern populations. The butterflies can often be seen visiting flowers and seem to be especially fond of Globularia.
The female lays her eggs singly on the underside of the leaves of cinquefoils (Potentilla spp.) and rockroses (Helianthemum spp.).
The caterpillars of the first instar only eat the surface layer, leaving translucent "windows" in the leaf. The larger caterpillars eat the whole leaf, and live in a tent-like shelter, spun from one or more leaves. It is the caterpillar that hibernates.
It pupates in a cocoon on the ground and there is one generation a year.
Habitat:
Dry siliceous grasslands
Dry calcareous grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Similar species:
Pyrgus carthami
Pyrgus alveus
Pyrgus serratulae
Pyrgus malvae