Pyrgus ID #1

[David M]

Can anyone assist with this pyrgus from the Piedmont Alps in NW Italy?

It was seen on 20 June at about 1,000m. Large, almost as big as Safflower but it clearly isn't that.

I thought at first it might be Cinquefoil Skipper, but this species usually only emerges in July.

Based on my usual process of elimination, I believe it is probably a Foulquier's Grizzled Skipper.

[Padfield]

I think you're very probably right. It ticks all the boxes for bellieri and you were in the right region. Looking at the second picture, the touffe clearly continues beneath the abdomen tip.

Guy

[David M]

Many thanks for the quick response, Guy. Do you know the usual flight period for this species? I do see it fairly regularly in the Mercantour, but this is usually around the second week of July, so 20th June is quite a bit earlier.

I guess the climate on the Italian side might be that much more benign given that the Alps give way pretty readily to the lowlands in this region?

[Padfield]

I confess, I hadn't considered phenology. Getting slack! Yes, 20th June is very early for bellieri. The only alternative would seem to me to be armoricanus, but that also presents a phenology problem, as the first brood would be exhausted by now and the second brood is said to fly in July like bellieri (in Switzerland, I see armoricanus in May/June and then in August/September).

I'd be interested to see what Roger thinks.

Guy

[David M]

I considered armoricanus as a matter of routine, but I've seen hundreds in May in the French Pyrenees over the years and this was a very different insect, Guy.

I think the earliest I've seen Foulquier's in the Mercantour is in the first few days of July, but Simon Spencer, one of my companions on this trip, informs me that this part of the Alps is usually several days ahead of the more montane areas further west, and we DID enjoy three very hot days in succession where temperatures rose to nearly 30c, so I suspect this will have precipitated quite a few emergences.