Large Chequered Skipper (Heteropterus morpheus)
2011 photos highlighted in green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 2787_male_Italy_17Jul06 | 99-01_female_Gironde_Jul99 |
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A strange butterfly, even by skipper standards. It has a very unusual underside as can be seen from 2787 above and a rather drab but rarely-seen upperside (99-01), although it usually settles with its wings closed. |
It has a characteristic bouncing flight in which it seems to have difficulty getting off the ground, that can’t be mistaken in flight for anything else. In France it has a very western distribution where I have seen it near Bordeaux and in the French Pyrénées. |
| ref | sex |
observations |
alt. m |
| 2787 | M |
a male underside, as indicated by the hair tuft at the end of the abdomen. The photo was taken in Italy, west of Lake Garda. As it only occurs in a small area in Italy, I was probably fortunate to find it there. |
600 |
| 99-01 | F |
the only time I have seen the upperside. |
