Large chequered skipper | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Hesperiidae |
Subfamily: | Heteropterinae |
Genus: | Heteropterus Duméril, 1806 |
Species: | H. morpheus |
Binomial name | |
Heteropterus morpheus | |
Synonyms | |
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The large chequered skipper (Heteropterus morpheus) is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It is the single member of the monotypic genus Heteropterus. The species can be found in isolated populations in Europe and east across the Palearctic to Central Asia and Korea. It is endangered in the Netherlands.
Formerly, the genus Heteropterus also included the following species:
The length of the forewings is 15–18 mm. The butterfly has a very distinctive and attractive underside but a drab upperside (which is rarely seen, as it usually settles with wings closed). The upper side is quite dark brown and it is the reverse which is characteristic with brown fore wings in part covered by the hind wing and in the visible part the same ornamentation as the hind wings, on an ochre ground three lines of spots white ovals surrounded by black and a white border cut with black.
H. morpheus Pall. (= steropes Schiff.) (87 b). Forewing above black with 3 apical dots and a spot each in cellules 4 and 5. Some females have on the hindwing a row of 4 or 5 yellow dashes and a small dot in the cell. The forewing bears beneath a spot in the cell, another proximally to the apical dots and a narrow short band near the margin. The hindwing has three rows of oval, mother-of-pearl spots which are surrounded by small yellow spots, there being also a narrow yellow band near the margin. The butterfly is called "mirror" on account of the mother-of-pearl spots. Europe, Asia, eastwards to Japan. [2]
In France, it has been seen in the south west including, in 2011, the Hautes-Pyrénées department.
The butterfly is on the wing from June to August, depending on the location. The flight is just as distinctive as its appearance and indeed provides immediate identification of the species: it appears to bounce through the air with little sense of direction, almost as if drunk.
The larvae feed on Eriophorum , Poa annua , Calamagrostis canescens , Brachypodium and Molinia species (including Molinia coerulea ).
The large skipper is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae.
The Adonis blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It inhabits the Palearctic realm.
The Scotch argus is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. In spite of its English name argus, it is not a close relation of the brown argus nor the northern brown argus.
Colotis danae, the crimson tip or scarlet tip, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites. It is found in Asia and Africa.
Appias indra, the plain puffin, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, which is found in south and southeast Asia.
The yellow-spotted ringlet is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of the family Nymphalidae. It is associated with (sub)alpine meadows at 900–2,500 m above sea level. It is found in the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Cantabrian Mountains, the Massif Central, the Vosges Mountains, the Carpathian Mountains and the mountains of Herzegovina.
The marbled ringlet is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of the family Nymphalidae.
Boloria dia, the Weaver's fritillary or violet fritillary, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The name Weaver's fritillary is in honor of Richard Weaver, an English insect collector who claimed to have obtained the specimen within ten miles of Birmingham around 1820. However, B. dia is very rare in England and the few specimens known from there are thought to be from possibly accidental introductions.
Favria is a monotypic genus of spread-wing skippers in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. This genus was formerly a synonym of Muschampia, and its only species, Favria cribrellum, was formerly a member of Muschampia. The species is commonly known as the spinose skipper.
Metisella is a genus of skippers, commonly called sylphs, in the family Hesperiidae found in Africa. For other sylphs see genera Astictopterus, Willema, and Tsitana.
Muschampia proto, the sage skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in Morocco, Algeria, the Iberian Peninsula and southern France.
Muschampia tessellum, the tessellated skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found from the southern Balkan Peninsula through Ukraine, southern Russia and Asia Minor, southern Siberia, Mongolia, east to the Amur region.
Acraea natalica, the Natal acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, which is native to East and southern Africa.
Acraea stenobea, the suffused acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Transvaal and the Free State.
Acraea encedon, the common acraea, white-barred acraea or encedon acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa and south-western Arabia. It is one of the species of Acraea sometimes separated in Telchinia.
Arethusana is a butterfly genus from the subfamily Satyrinae of the brush-footed butterfly family (Nymphalidae). It is composed of only one species, Arethusana arethusa, the false grayling.
Tomares callimachus, the Caucasian vernal copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Anatolia, Iraq, Iran, the Caucasus, and Transcaucasia.
Carterocephalus argyrostigma is a species of butterfly found in the East Palearctic that belongs to the skippers family.
Euphydryas intermedia synonym ichnea is a small butterfly found in the Palearctic that belongs to the browns family. It occurs up to 2200 m above sea level.
Eogenes alcides is a butterfly found in the East Palearctic Asia Minor to Iran, Afghanistan to Pakistan, West China. that belongs to the skippers family. Subspecies E. a. ahriman is found in Turkestan.