''Carcharodus'' is a

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

genus of skippers in the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

. 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. 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 and

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a 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, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

Species

These species belong to the genus ''Carcharodus'': * ''

Carcharodus alceae ''Carcharodus alceae'', commnly known as the mallow skipper, is a species of butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Taxonomy The scientific Latin species name ''alceae'' refers to the host plants '' Althaea'', which, in turn, are named after th ...

'' (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. It is externally indistinguisha ...

'' (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 {{Pyrginae-stub