www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Can anyone identify this grizzled skipper species? I think it is most likely P.onopordi.


Taken near Imlil in the Moroccan High Atlas mountains this September.

I can't see it. Is there a problem with the link?

The facility used for embedded images, at postImage.org, is sometimes "down". It's currently working as I type this.

Alternatively, it might be a firewall setting on your machine.

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks Pete. I can see it now.
Matsukaze, how big was the skipper? It might be a large grizzled skipper pyrgus alveus which favours mountainous regions.

Hard to say - unfortunately I have only seen the British Grizzled Skipper once, so don't really have a basis for comparison. This skipper looked much browner than the British species, but that isn't particularly helpful in identifying it, as many of the family are brown and white.

The problem with P.alveus is that it seems to be univoltine. My Collins Field Guide suggests that the Moroccan subspecies flies in June.

It looks like a male onorpordi to me. The upf marks are quite strong, especially the cell spot, but not quite strong enough to suggest cirsii and the uph markings are too pale for cirsii. Armoricanus is a more likely possibility but the uph discal mark is also too pale, I think. The slightly sagittate uph submarginal marks suggest onorpordi (I have never seen this in any textbook though) and I believe the ones I have seen with these markings in southern France are also onorpordi. As with most pyrgus, it’s more of a best guess than anything more certain.

It can only really be confirmed by the underside where the characteristic discal “anvil” points strongly to onorpordi, although I have seen what can only be onorpordi but with rather distorted anvils.

Altitude is often a good clue, at least to eliminate some possibilities, although most pyrgus seem to have ranges up to 2000m.

Luckily the butterflies themselves do not have to rely on textbooks and websites in order to identify a mate!

I would stress that I have no knowledge of pyrgus in Morocco where distinct forms may occur.

Looks pretty good to me for onopordi. Additionally N Africa is rather poor in Pyrgus, only being host to onopordi, alveus and armoricanus. Of these 3 only onopordi and alveus fly in the High Atlas and of these only onopordi flies throughout the warmer months, alveus flying May to July. I have found onopordi in September to be very common. Indeed it is common in the hills and mountains in May, June and July too. I concede however that I have never knowlingly found armoricanus nor alveus in Morocco so perhaps they are so similar in appearance that without the supporting location and date information an ID from the photo alone would be suspect.