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Spialia sertorius

Red Underwing Skipper

Field Notes

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Pyrénées Orientales, France, May 2006

 

Pyrénées Orientales, France, May 2006

 

Middle Atlas, Morocco, June 2005

ssp. ali. Unfortunately no photo of the distinctive and jazzy underside.

 

Valais, Switzerland, June 2004

 

Montes Universales, Spain, August 2003

Taking salts and/or water in extremely hot weather

 

Sardinia, Italy, May 2003

subspecies, or full species, therapne

 

This is a small butterfly that flies very fast and close to the ground. Thus it is difficult to follow in flight. It likes settling on hot ground and can be found taking salts from damp patches of earth. 

It flies in north Africa, Spain, France and Italy. Further east it is replaced by the very similar Orbed Red Underwing Skipper (S. orbifer). The differences are subtle and the best aid to identification is location of the site. There are several subspecies, including therapne which flies only on Sardinia and Corsica. Some authors treat this subspecies as a true species but I don't know on what basis. It looks rather similar to the normal form. In north Africa the subspecies ali flies. This is distinctly different in appearance to the normal form but I don't know if this is talked of as a separate species.

 

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