Carline Skipper (Pyrgus carlinae)

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2023 photographs highlighted in green. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.

26491_male_Alpes-Maritimes_07Jul11 26941_male_Alpes-Maritimes_11Jul11 27384_male_Hautes-Alpes_16Jul11 27668_male_Valais, Switzerland_22Jul11
23118_male_Valais, Switzerland_25Jul10 17436_pair_Hautes-Alpes_08Jul09 44538_male_Alpes-Maritimes_18Jul17 44561_male_Alpes-Maritimes_18Jul17
44727_male_Alpes-Maritimes_20Jul17 44854_male_Hautes-Alpes_23Jul17 47364_male_Alpes-Maritimes_16Jul20 44618_female_Alpes-Maritimes_18Jul17
44875_male_Hautes-Alpes_24Jul17 27593_male_Valais, Switzerland_22Jul11 12135_male_Hautes-Alpes_7Jul08 18312_male_Isère_13Jul09

A high altitude Pyrgus, with a late flight period of mid-July and August. Its minimum altitude range is stated by Lafranchis as 1500m, exceptionally as low as 1000m. Its defining upf characteristic is the cell spot which is narrow and shaped like a letter "C" although it may be just markedly externally concave and with a straight internal edge, and may be divided in the centre. This only applies to the male, the female being much more weakly marked and the cell spot, far from being C-shaped, may be almost non-existent. Other species may have a slight externally concave cell spot but not to the same extent as carlinae (e.g. Oberthur's Grizzled Skipper (P. armoricanus) 24703); it is not clear where this C-shape boundary exists.

The uph markings are clear but not strongly contrasted.

 

The carlinae underside has pale reddish-brown ground colour and the distinguishing features are the discal band which can be quite narrow in s4/5, and the marginal mark on v5 which is rather (but not always) long, regular and with a neat straight-ish internal edge (compared to other Pyrgus).

 

It is not uncommon across the Alpes, and in 2017 I saw carlinae in a wide variety of locations.

ref sex

observations

alt. m
26491 M a rather unconvincing C-shaped cell spot, but it is clearly carlinae. 1400
26941 M an unusually greyish brown ground colour and a weak cell spot. 2000
27384 M slightly greyer than usual, but the cell spot is unmistakeably carlinae. 1490
27668 M rather greyer than usual, but the cell spot is unmistakeably carlinae. 2160
23118 M

although the markings are rather whiter than the usual pale yellow, they surely indicate carlinae.

2000
17436 PR

a mating pair, the female is above. Very convenient to see the upper surfaces of both sexes together, illustrating the lighter upf markings of the female and the virtually non-existent uph markings. It also shows how unconvincing the upf C-shaped cell spot can be, in the male. As in many instances of the books' references to identifying features (in this case they say that carlinae can be identified by the upf C-shaped cell spot), but quite often they are rather indeterminate, as here. I have a photograph of the underside which, although not 100%, I believe corroborates the identification as carlinae.

2000
44538 M a rather warm brown colour, and classical C-shaped cell spot. 1550
44561 M rather grey-brown and with a greyish upf basal flush, and a weak cell spot, hardly concave at all. This is probably at the limit of weakness for carlinae markings. 1550
44727 M rather grey and with a cell spot that is unmistakeably carlinae. 1900
44854 M a rather dark brownish-grey ground colour and a cell spot that can just about be described as concave. 2020
47364 M a rather brassy sheen, but the upf cell spot clearly indicates carlinae. 2300
44618 F a female, identified as carlinae by a view of the underside, with weak upf marks (the norm for a female) but a very strong wide non-concave cell spot (definitely not the norm for carlinae). 1550
44875 M a very neat and appealing carlinae underside, with a relatively narrow discal s4/5 mark, a short but neat rectangular mark on v5, a rather small but regular bump in discal s1, and a beautiful deep red-brown ground colour. 1900
27593 M the discal band is rather narrow, indicating carlinae, even though the marginal mark on v5 is not particularly long, which is normally the key to carlinae. 2160
12135 M

the long and tidy rectangular mark on v5 is sufficiently and the absence of any mark in discal s2 point strongly toward carlinae.

1750
18312 M

this has all of the key features of carlinae and none that offer doubts.

1120

 

26491_male_Alpes-Maritimes_07Jul11

 

26941_male_Alpes-Maritimes_11Jul11

 

27384_male_Hautes-Alpes_16Jul11

 

27668_male_Valais, Switzerland_22Jul11

 

23118_male_Valais, Switzerland_25Jul10

 

17436_pair_Hautes-Alpes_08Jul09

 

44538_male_Alpes-Maritimes_18Jul17

 

44561_male_Alpes-Maritimes_18Jul17

 

44727_male_Alpes-Maritimes_20Jul17

 

44854_male_Hautes-Alpes_23Jul17

 

47364_male_Alpes-Maritimes_16Jul20

 

44618_female_Alpes-Maritimes_18Jul17

 

44875_male_Hautes-Alpes_24Jul17

 

27593_male_Valais, Switzerland_22Jul11

 

12135_male_Hautes-Alpes_7Jul08

 

18312_male_Isère_13Jul09