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Pyrgus armoricanus - Oberthür's...
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Pyrgus armoricanus from Fleeting Memories From Summer -06
During the excursion when I found the rare 2nd generation P. malvae presented in my previous posting, I also came across this little "Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper" and suspected (and hoped) it would be the very rare P. armoricanus, which I had never seen reported from this locality, which turned out to be true!
In contrast to the P. malvae - which is the only Skipper appearing simultaneously within the same area - the white spots on the upperside of the forewing are smaller and fairly distinct. The upperside of the hindwing also has a band of more diffuse white spots which look paler and more greyish (as if bleached) than that of P. malvae.
This species seldom flies more than a few hundred meters away during its lifetime and thus has diffuculties in colonizing new areas. It is one of our most heat-demanding and southernmost species. It loves hot, sun-dried fields on lime and unfertilized grazing pastures with a rich, low-growing flora 1-2 dm high.
In Sweden it's found exclusively in southeast Scania, in a few locations sufficiently hot for it to thrive and survive, where it always flies with two generations each season. The 1st generation flies from May-June and the 2nd from July-August - the second always being more numerous.
Worldwide distribution: North Africa, the Mediterranean countries, France, southern Middle Europe, The Balkans, Turkey, Iran and southern Ural.
The specimen in this shot is charging its batteries with the nectar of Medicago sativa ssp. falcata.
Taxonomy:
Superfamily: Hesperioidea, comprising only one family worldwide with about 3700 documented species.
Family: Hesperiidae, being thus the only family in this superfamily.
Subfamily: Pyrginae, in the Nordic countries three subfamilies (Pyrginae, Heteropterinae and Hesperiinae) with 14 species.
Genus: Pyrgus, in the Nordic countries 6 species: P. alveus, P. andromedae, P. armoricanus, P. centaureae, P. malvae and P. serratulae.
Species: armoricanus, adjectival form of Armorica, the Lat. name for Bretagne, hence the epithet "French/Fransk" in Sw. "Fransk blomvisslare", which has been replaced with "Backvisslare".
Red-listed in Sweden, leading a very precarious existence.
For names in most European vernaculars, distribution maps, etc., the interested student is recommended to visit Chris Jonko's (Christopher_PL on TN) great site European Butterflies with other excellent links to follow up.
References:
1: Nationalnyckeln till Sveriges flora och fauna: Fjärilar - Dagfjärilar. Hesperiidae - Nymphalidae (2005),
and
2: Bo Söderström: Svenska fjärilar. En fälthandbok (2006) |
red45, peter_stoeckl, phlr, anel, Maite, Tamrock has marked this note useful
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- red45
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2831 W: 75 N: 8025]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(26865) - [2007-02-19 2:57]
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Hi Goran!
Small and very nice butterfly. Maybe not so showy, but I like it. Good, sunny composition with yellow flower. Very interesting note.
Hi Goran,
Nicely capturing this skipper.
Great sharpness and neat image.
Superb shot.
Ben Lakitan
Hello Goran,
congratulations for capturing P. armoricanus in your place!
Thank you for presenting it here in a very clear and colourful way in bright summer light, and identifiying it together with the plant it is sitting on.
Many thanks also for recommending and showing all those useful links to websites on European butterflies.
A pleasure to look at your posting.
With thanks, and best regards,
Peter
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- anel
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1175 W: 0 N: 1980]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(8407) - [2007-02-19 10:19]
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Hello Goran,
Really i'm amazed to see that you can make the difference between this different skippers which look quite similar to me. I have made some shots of Hesperiidae, Pyrginae, but i haven't found the exact ID by now.
Thank's for your good picture and your interesting note
Best regards
Anne
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- Maite
(4936)
- [2007-02-19 10:36]
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Hello Goran
Excellent shot with a perfect sharpness, DOF, colors, lighting and composition. The Pyrginae b. is wonderfully captured with crisp details.
My compliments and TFS.
Maite
bonjour goran
celle-ci est encore mieux que la precedente,j'aime les couleurs et le POV.
les details sont bons sur le papillon.
laurent
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 136 W: 35 N: 239]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif){kind=small}