Photo © Mike Wall

Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper

Pyrgus armoricanus

Checklist Number
57.0021 [B&F: 1535]

Verification
Record requires retention of specimen until confirmed, and may require dissection. Consult with CMR if unsure

Classification

Family:Hesperiidae
Subfamily:Pyrginae
Genus:Pyrgus
Species:armoricanus
Authority:(Oberthür, 1910)

Sometime during the 1870s, the Rev T.H.Marsh took a number of specimens of what he thought at the time were P. malvae Grizzled Skipper, in a damp valley bordering a wood at the end of May or early in June, in the district of Cawston, Norfolk. The error was discovered by C.G. Barrett in the late 1880s when looking through Marsh's collection. All were taken in one year. Searches by Barrett and Marsh in 1892 found no trace of the insect, and while the veracity of the specimens isn't doubted, migration is unlikely with multiple individuals found in one small location, and it has to be a strong possiblity that the adult butterflies originated from stock introduced with garden plants.

A local species in flower meadows, south-facing hillsides and grassy slopes throughout much of mainland Europe. Wingspan 30 mm. Larva feeds on Common Rock-rose, Creeping Cinquefoil and Wild Strawberry.