Foulquier's Grizzled Skipper?

[David M]

I've only ever seen Foulquier's on the fabled forest track, but this specimen, seen at a grassy site north of St Etienne de Tinée at 1,500m, looks like it ticks the boxes.

As ever, please feel free to advise if I'm mistaken:

[Roger Gibbons]

The upperside on its own would not be quite conclusive, but I believe there is a clue from the underside that strongly indicates foulquieri.

What boxes did it tick for you, David?

Roger

[Padfield]

I'm watching with bated breath ...

In the meantime, do you have any other underside shots that show the end of the abdomen more clearly, David? The diagnostic hair tufts are beneath the end:


(male on left)

Guy

[David M]

Sorry, Guy, I have no images clearly showing the 'rump', but my hunch is based on the following:

It was large, ruling out all but armoricanus, carthami, alveus, cacaliaea and onopordi.

The uph is quite bold, which means it can't be alveus or cacaliae.

The unh 'anvil' doesn't have the black border which rules out onopordi.

It clearly isn't carthami because the unh is all wrong.

So, I'm left with armoricanus or foulquieri.

Oberthur's is uncommon on the track where this insect was seen, whereas Foulquier's can be common at the right time of year.

What's more, there is a pronounced 'gap' in the white line on the unh which is usually complete in armoricanus. On the uph, I would expect a clear and bold 'clothes peg' in armoricanus, whereas this specimen has more of a square marking, with a slight dentate projection on just one side.

All the above led me to believe it was foulquieri, although with less than 75% certainty!