A small brown, fast flying butterfly with white marks on its forewing. The upperside of the hindwing is without white spots, and the margin is conspicuous crenulate and chequered, which enables it to be easily separated from similar species. Male and female are very similar.
Dan Danahar noted that most individuals have sickle shaped ends to their antennae.
Found in a range of different habitats, usually flowery grassy places but also hot dry rocky places.
Marsh-mallow Althaea officinalis, Hibiscus Hibiscus trionum, Tree-Mallow Malva arborea, Dwarf Mallow Malva neglecta, Small Mallow Malva pusilla, Common Mallow Malva sylvestris.
Anne Sordinas has reared larvae collected from the wild on Malva spp.. Anne contacted Gillian Elsom for help with the identification of the host plant and Gillian believes that it was either M. pusilla or M. neglecta.
Usually found as singletons, with indications of territorial behaviour.
*The information provided in the tables below is based on verified sightings of the Mallow Skipper submitted via this website since 1st January 2021.
Year | First | Last/latest | # Days |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | 01/03/2023 | 08/06/2023 | 99 days |
2022 | 10/02/2022 | 17/11/2022 | 280 days |
2021 | 03/03/2021 | 19/10/2021 | 230 days |
Year | Number of observations |
---|---|
2023 | 68 |
2022 | 163 |
2021 | 103 |
Grand Total | 334 |
The chart below shows flight data by month for 2023 submitted online since 1st January 2023 to 8th June 2023.
The chart below shows flight data by month based on all data submitted online since 1st January 2019 to 8th June 2023.
For a list of references, please see our bibliography page.