''Carcharodus'' is a

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

genus of skippers in the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea, but have since been placed in the superfamily Papilion ...

. In genomic research published in 2020, it was determined that six of the eight species in ''Carcharodus'' were more closely related to those in the genus ''Muschampia'', and were transferred to that genus. This left only two species in ''Carcharodus''.

Description

This genus includes medium-sized, brown spotted skippers.

Distribution and habitat

They are widespread in central and southern Europe, North Africa, and in temperate Asia from northern India to southern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. These skippers can be found in meadows, trails and other sunny, warm locations. They fly in the sunshine and often visit flowers to drink nectar. The larvae feed on various herbs of several different plant families, including

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

and

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...

Species

These species belong to the genus ''Carcharodus'': * '' Carcharodus alceae'' (Esper, 1780) (mallow skipper) * ''

Carcharodus tripolina ''Carcharodus tripolinus'', the false mallow skipper, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It is found along a narrow strip along the coast of southern Portugal and Spain and across North Africa. The wingspan is 26–34 mm. ...

'' (Verity, 1925) (false mallow skipper)

References

Natural History Museum Lepidoptera genus databaseTree of Life
. Distribution (in French)

External links

Images representing ''Carcharodus''
at Bold Hesperiidae genera Taxa named by Jacob Hübner Taxa described in 1819 {{Pyrginae-stub