''Muschampia baeticus'', the southern marbled skipper, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

of 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 ...

. It is found in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, south-western Europe,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

up to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Description

The forewing length is 13 to 14 millimeters. The upper surface of the forewings is marbled gray and slightly dark grey-brown.A narrow, grey discal band limits the darker basal region, and there are small hyaline spots on the forewing. The hind wing upper surface is dark brown with a small light basal spot and distinct discal and postdiscal spots and a large discoid spot. The underside of the forewings is grey-brown with light veins. The hind wing underside is light yellow-grey with white veins, basal and discal spots and postdiscal moons. Overall, they produce a net-like drawing. Both sexes have the same wing markings, the male has a thick growth of hair on the underside of the forewings. Variability The 1st generation is always dark grey, the 2nd generation is light grey and the 3rd generation is light sand brown. The growth of hair is dark in moths in early summer and light sand-brown in later-flying insects.

Biology

Adults are on wing from May to October in two or three generations. At higher altitudes there is only one generation. The larvae feed on ''

Marrubium vulgare ''Marrubium vulgare'' (white horehound or common horehound) is a flowering plant in the mint family (Lamiaceae), native to Europe, northern Africa, and southwestern and central Asia. Specifically, it emerged in the region between the Mediterranea ...

'' and ''

Ballota ''Ballota'' (horehound) is a genus of flowering evergreen perennial plants and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae. native to temperate regions. The Mediterranean region has the highest diversity in the genus, with more isolated locations in Sout ...

'' species. This species was formerly a member of the genus ''

Carcharodus ''Carcharodus'' is a Palearctic genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae. 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' ...

''. As a result of genomic research published in 2020, it was transferred to the genus ''

Muschampia ''Muschampia'' is a Palearctic genus of spread-winged skippers in the family Hesperiidae. Species These species belong to the genus ''Muschampia'': * ''Muschampia alta'' (Schwingenschuss, 1942) Southern Italy, Balkan Peninsula * ''Muschampia ...

''.

References

External links

Lepiforum.de

Carcharodus Butterflies of Europe Taxa named by Jules Pierre Rambur Butterflies described in 1842 {{Pyrginae-stub