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Matt Rowlings

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Pyrgus malvae

Grizzled Skipper

Field Notes

Var, France, May 2006

Valais, Switzerland, July 2006

Valais, Switzerland, May 2006

Var, France, April 2006

Valais, Switzerland, May 2006

Valais, Switzerland, May 2006

Var, France, May 2005

Alpes de Haute Provence, France, May 2005

Valais, Switzerland, May 2005

Var, France, May 2004

Macedonia, Greece, May 2004

Hampshire, UK, June 2000

Macedonia, Greece, May 2004

Hampshire, UK, June 2000

Hampshire, UK, June 2000

Macedonia, Greece, July 2000

Provence, France, June 2003

I'm not sure this is malvae but don't know what else it might be.
Suggestions welcome!

This is one of the more straight forward of the Pyrgus to identify but errors are still all to easy! One of the butterflies featured on my page for Orbed Red-underwing Skipper, Spialia orbifer, for a few weeks before a welcome prompt from a friend pointed our my error. A little more patience on my part would have avoided a red face!

The best feature of this butterfly is its small size. This almost always points the mind towards malvae. More objectively there are a row of spots around the upperside hindwing. These are always (?) present. They are bold and strong white. They are often on the forewing too. There are nearly always strong markings in the discal area of the hindwing too.

The last photo above lacks these last two identification features which makes me suspect something else but the bold row of spots around the hindwing precludes almost everything else. It was flying at about 100m about 20km from the south coast of France. There were some other Pygrus here including some very interesting species. Any suggestions as to its possible identity?

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