A small dark brown butterfly, with clear white marks on its wings. The white postdiscal spots on the forewing upperside in S4 and S5 are not contiguous with the spots in S6 to S8 (near the tip of the wing), which enables separation from the similar species in the genera Carcharodus and Muschampia. Also, the submarginal spots are normally present. On the underside of the hindwing, the ground colour is reddish-brown, and the white basal spot in S7 (font) is smaller than the other two, whereas in P. armoricanus they are the same size. Male and female are similar.
In the UK this species occupies a range of different habitats, including: woodland glades, coastal dunes, grasslands and even brown-field sites. However, on closer examination the fine scale structure of the niche occupied by this butterfly is the same in each of these habitats. In the UK the Grizzled Skipper is a thermally restricted species and so the females oviposit in locations that aid the development of both the ova and the larva, by choosing areas where microtopography manipulates temperature at ground level.
In Corfu where the temperatures are much higher it is difficult to understand why this species is encountered so irregularly. Whilst Rubus maybe utilised as a host plant, this usually only takes place in the late instars, when the mouth parts of the larvae are large enough to cut through the tough foliage of the plant.
Agrimony Agrimonia eupatoria, Wild Strawberry Fragaria vesca, Salad Burnet Poterium sanguisorba.
Like most skippers this is a fast flying butterfly but because there have been so few observations of it in Corfu, accounts of it's behaviour there are yet to be written.
*The information provided in the tables below is based on verified sightings of the Grizzled Skipper submitted via this website since 1st January 2021.
Year | First | Last/latest | # Days |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | 27/04/2023 | 08/06/2023 | 42 days |
2022 | 09/04/2022 | 29/05/2022 | 50 days |
2021 | 06/05/2021 | 02/06/2021 | 27 days |
Year | Number of observations |
---|---|
2023 | 46 |
2022 | 40 |
2021 | 54 |
Grand Total | 140 |
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.