Hesperiidae : Pyrginae
Mallow Skipper
CARCHARODUS alceae (Esper, 1780)
Mallow Skipper
CARCHARODUS alceae (Esper, 1780)
Kind permission - © Tim Norriss
Life Cycle Guide-Adult Only
Description
Wingspan: 26-34mm
Worldwide Distribution: Widespread in Southern Mediterranean including most Mediterranean Islands:S.Europe:Central Europe: Temperate Asia:Arabia:N.India:S.Siberia
UK Sightings: The male and female found in 1923 in Surrey must surely have either been introduced within their food plants or were released specimens as the butterfly is not migratory.
European Conservation Status -
Flight Period: Early April:October : Polyvoltine-Three or more broods.
Habitat: Hot dry areas : Stony waste ground : Long grassy areas with light scrub : Rocky Terrain.
Larva: Hibernates at the base of the larval food plant, usually Mallow,in a strong structure made from dead leaves held together with silk.
Overwinters as: Mature larva
Observations: In Cyprus I found few Mallow Skippers but they were usually perched on dry vegetation either in an area of rocky rough terrain adjacent to the coast or beside a roadway on the stoney outskirts of a Peanut Field as well as imbibing on flowers as in photo 2 L-R below.
Under certain conditions they turn their wings below the thorax line in a strange behaviour thats suggest they are forcing their wings inside out-a very strange habit perpetrated by others members of the genus.
Having photos of both C.alceae & C.tripolinus it is clear they are indistinguishable from external appearance and can only be differentiated by the male genitalia dissection or area found, especially around the southern coasts of Spain and Portugal where C.tripolinus is located.
Worldwide Distribution: Widespread in Southern Mediterranean including most Mediterranean Islands:S.Europe:Central Europe: Temperate Asia:Arabia:N.India:S.Siberia
UK Sightings: The male and female found in 1923 in Surrey must surely have either been introduced within their food plants or were released specimens as the butterfly is not migratory.
European Conservation Status -
- Least Concern - Common and widespread south of 50ºN, including Mediterranean islands
- Papilio alceae (Esper, 1780)
- Papilio alceae (Esper , 1780)
- Germany-Erlangen
Flight Period: Early April:October : Polyvoltine-Three or more broods.
Habitat: Hot dry areas : Stony waste ground : Long grassy areas with light scrub : Rocky Terrain.
Larva: Hibernates at the base of the larval food plant, usually Mallow,in a strong structure made from dead leaves held together with silk.
Overwinters as: Mature larva
Observations: In Cyprus I found few Mallow Skippers but they were usually perched on dry vegetation either in an area of rocky rough terrain adjacent to the coast or beside a roadway on the stoney outskirts of a Peanut Field as well as imbibing on flowers as in photo 2 L-R below.
Under certain conditions they turn their wings below the thorax line in a strange behaviour thats suggest they are forcing their wings inside out-a very strange habit perpetrated by others members of the genus.
Having photos of both C.alceae & C.tripolinus it is clear they are indistinguishable from external appearance and can only be differentiated by the male genitalia dissection or area found, especially around the southern coasts of Spain and Portugal where C.tripolinus is located.
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Euphorbiaceae - Spurge Family
- Chrozophora hierosolymitana - No Common Name
- Malvaceaea - The Mallow Family
- Alcea rosea - Hollyhock
- Althaea officinalis - Marshmallow
- Hibiscus rosa-sinensis - Chinese Hibiscus - China Rose
- Lavetera thuringiaca - Lavertera
- Malva moschata - Musk-Mallow
- Malva neglecta - Dwarf-Mallow
- Malva pusilla - Small Mallow
- Malva sylvestris - Common Mallow
- Alcea rosea - Hollyhock
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species CARCHARODUS: Original Species Name: Species Names: Genus Group Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Hesperiidae Pyrginae Carcharodini CARCHARODUS Hübner, [1819] Carcharodus alceae (Esper, 1780) - Papilio alceae (Esper, 1780) - PAPILIO alceae (Esper, 1780) = Papilio malvarum Hoffmansegg, 1804 = Hesperia australis Zeller, 1847 = Hesperia nostras Zeller, 1847 = Spilothyrus aestiva Hormuzaki, 1897 = Erynnis griseofulva Verity, 1924 = Erynnis magnaaustralis Verity, 1924 = Erynnis praeaustralis Verity, 1924 = Erynnis fulvocarens Verity, 1925 = Carcharodus Syrichthus Boisduval 1834 = Carcharodus claraminima Verity, 1937 = Carcharodus claraustralis Verity, 1937 = Carcharodus exigua Verity, 1940 = Carcharodus corsicus Picard, 1948 - CARCHARODUS Hübner 1819-Genus = Syrichthus Boisduval 1834 - Die Schmetterlinge in Abbildungen nach der Natur Th. I, Bd. 2 (1): Title Page : p.4 : pl. 51 - f. 3 - Germany-Erlangen - C.a.wissmanni Warnecke, 1934-Sinai peninsula in Yemen C.a.swinhoei Watson, 1893-Afghanistan : N W India |