There are actually three different Sage Skipper species, Muschampia proto, M. alto and M. ptoteides - that is the Western, Southern and Eastern Sage Skippers.

However, modern distribution maps indicate that our butterfly is likely to be M. alto, the Southern Sage Skipper which is found in Southern Italy, the Balkan Peninsula and mainland Greece. The three Muschampia species can only be separated through DNA analysis or detailed analysis of the male genitalia, neither of which options are currently available to CBC.

In the future we hope to be granted permission to conduct DNA analysis and that should give us conclusive evidence. In the meantime we have taken the decision to change our records. From now on the butterfly will be labelled and recorded as the Southern Sage Skipper, Muschampia alto and all previous records have been corrected to reflect this.