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Muschampia alta / Sage Skipper
Antenëgrepja e urtë
Hesperiidae - Pyrginae
Muschampia alta (Schwingenschuß, 1942). TL: Taormina, Sicily, Italy.
 
  
1a. Muschampia alta, distribution map.  Historical data ;  Additional data from the 2018 update ;  New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Muschampia alta upperrside. Finiq, Albania (© Wolfgang Bacher)
1c. Habitat of Muschampia alta. Greece (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Muschampia alta ♂ underside. Greece (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e.
Muschampia alta upperside. Ksamil, Albania (©Wolfgang Bacher)
Description
♂♂
Small butterfly. Fw: 14-15 mm.
Ups: dark grey gc, often with yellowish hairs, weak submarginal markings.
Unh: yellow-grey to sandy-red gc, same markings as ups. Spots in discal area not forming a band.
♀♀
Sligthly larger.
Ups: identical markings, no yellowish hairs.
Similar species
Muschampia tessellum (DD)
Larger Muschampia.
Upf:
No yellowish hairs.
Uph:
White, small dot-shaped markings.
Unf:
Unh:
Pale olive
gc.
Muschampia proto and Muschampia proteides
Sibling species
Not present in the Balkan peninsula.
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Life cycle
Adults: long emergence from April throughout summer in intervals (often hatching after a rainy day)
Egg: probably short stage.
Caterpillar: probably overwintering and pupating in early spring.
Pupa: probably short stage.
Habitat
Muschampia alta inhabits dry rocky gullies and slopes with quite high growing plants. Some grazing is tolerated. Occuring rarely below 500 m and up to 1500 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement modest, population density can be high.
Foodplants
Caterpillars feed on Phlomis sp.
Butterflies feed on a large diversity of plants, also on higher flowers.
Distribution
Albania: local in southern Albania (more research needed)
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE - UK - SCA - EEU
Not present in Asia, sibling species: Muschampia proteides (Wagner, 1929)
Conservation status
Muschampia alta is not endangered, at the northern limit of its European range in the Balkan peninsula.
Albanian Red List: NE.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC (as M. proto)
Useful links
Lepiforum
(url) Hinojosa J. Dapporto L., Brockmann E., Dinca V., Tikhonov V., Grishin N., Lukthanov V. & Vila R. 2020. Overlooked cryptic diversity in Muschampia (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) adds two species to the European butterfly fauna. — Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 193(3): 847-859.
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