The Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Hesperiidae family.

Appearance, behaviour and distribution

With its characteristic chequered black and white pattern this butterfly is quite distinctive although old, faded individuals can be mistaken for the Dingy Skipper

Dingy Skipper

The Dingy Skipper, Erynnis tages, is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. It ranges from Europe across Asia Minor and Central Asia to the Amur region.Erynnis tages favours open grassy habitats up to 2,000 metres above sea level...

 or the Sideridis rivularis

Sideridis rivularis

The Campion is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in from the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, through the whole of Europe. To the east, it is found in eastern Asia, up to Manchuria. To the south, it is found in the Mediterranean Sea region , parts of Asia Minor and...

, the Burnet Campion Moth.

It is distributed throughout the Palearctic

Palearctic

The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth's surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone...

 region except the far North and the Iberian Peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

, and eastwards as far as China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

.

Its main habitat in Britain is chalk downland but others used include scrubby grasslands, woodland clearings and disused artificial habitat. The butterfly occurs throughout southern and central England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, but has declined in several areas, especially in the non-chalk habitat.

Life cycle and food plants

The females lay eggs singly on species of the Rosaceae

Rosaceae

Rosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...

, usually Agrimony

Agrimony

Agrimonia, commonly known as Agrimony, is a genus of 12-15 species of perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with one species also in Africa...

 Agrimonia eupitoria, Creeping Cinquefoil

Creeping Cinquefoil

Potentilla reptans, known as the creeping cinquefoil, European cinquefoil or creeping tormentil, is a plant in the Rosaceae family....

 Potentilla reptans and Wild Strawberry Fragaria vesca.

Other plants used occasionally are Barren Strawberry

Barren Strawberry

Potentilla sterilis, also called Barren strawberry, is a species native to Europe.The plant looks rather like wild Woodland strawberry , or a true garden strawberry, but is a smaller plant, with smaller flowers, and it doesn't form fleshy fruit. After the petals have fallen from a flower no obvious...

 P. sterilis, Tormentil

Tormentil

Common Tormentil is a herbaceous perennial belonging to the rose family , also known as Septfoil or simply as "tormentil" .-Characteristics:It is a low, clumb-forming plant with slender, procumbent...

 P. erecta, Salad Burnet

Salad Burnet

Sanguisorba minor is a plant in the family Rosaceae that is native to western, central and southern Europe; northwest Africa and southwest Western Asia; and which has naturalized in most of North America...

 Sanguisorba minor, Bramble

Bramble

Brambles are thorny plants of the genus Rubus, in the rose family . Bramble fruit is the fruit of any such plant, including the blackberry and raspberry. The word comes from Germanic *bram-bezi, whence also German Brombeere , Dutch Braam and French framboise...

 Rubus fruticosus, Dog-rose Rosa canina and Wood Avens

Wood Avens

Geum urbanum, also known as wood avens, herb Bennet, colewort and St. Benedict's herb , is a perennial plant in the rose family , which grows in shady places in Europe and the Middle East.Usually reaching a height between 20 and 60 cm, wood avens blooms between May and August,...

 Geum urbanum.

On hatching the caterpillar

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

s build shelters for use when they are not feeding. The larvae spin pupa

Pupa

A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is found only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago...

l cocoons and overwinter before emerging the following spring. The adult butterfly flies from the end of April until the middle of June.