Butterflies of
Europe
Tufted Marbled Skipper
Carcharodus
flocciferus
ZELLER, 1847
Family - HESPERIIDAE
subfamily -
PYRGINAE
Tribe - PYRGINI
subtribe -
introduction
|
habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
Tufted Marbled Skipper
Carcharodus flocciferus, male, Croatia
( image
© Peter Bruce-Jones )
Introduction
There are 8
species in the genus Carcharodus, 7 of which are
found in Europe - alceae,
lavatherae,
tripolina, baeticus,
flocciferus, orientalis
and stauderi. The remaining species
dravira is restricted to Iran, northern India &
Pakistan.
All
Carcharodus species are dark greyish-brown in colour, marbled with pale
grey, and all possess hyaline ( semi-transparent ) "windows" on the forewings,
and a band of small white median spots on the hindwings. The males of all
species have androconial folds on the leading edge of the fore-wings, which
disseminate pheromones to entice females to mate.
Androconial fold of male
Carcharodus flocciferus
( image
courtesy © Peter Bruce-Jones )
The various
Carcharodus species can be distinguished by close
examination of the configuration and shape of the hyaline spots and white
markings. Carcharodus flocciferus can be separated
from its very similar relative orientalis by
looking closely at the white markings on the underside hind-wings. These are
prominent and well defined in flocciferus, but
suffused in orientalis. Another ID diagnostic is
the group of 3 tiny hyaline spots at the apex of the forewing - these are
arranged in a crescent in flocciferus, but almost
in a straight line in orientalis.
The distribution of
orientalis and flocciferus
differs. The former is restricted to Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece,
Turkey, Iran and the southern Ural mountains, while
flocciferus has a wider distribution, being found in scattered colonies
from Spain to southern Siberia and the Altai.
Habitats
This butterfly is
found in grassy places including fields, flowery meadows, woodland
clearings and alpine pastures at altitudes between about 800-2000
metres.
Tufted Marbled Skipper
Carcharodus flocciferus, Croatia
( image
courtesy © Peter Bruce-Jones )
Lifecycle
The butterfly
has 2 generations per year, emerging in late May and August.
The
larvae feed
within silk tents spun on the crowns of woundworts
Stachys recta,
alpina, officinalis,
germanica,
palustris, sylvatica and
scardica. Larvae of the 2nd brood go
into hibernation when quite small, at the base of the foodplants.
Adult behaviour
Males of
flocciferus, and to a lesser extent females, are fond of
basking with wings outspread on the terminal leaves of woundwort,
unlike orientalis which almost always
basks on stones or bare ground.
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