Pyrgus centaureae

(Rambur, 1839)

Northern Grizzled Skipper

A in the , found in mountainous regions of Scandinavia. in June and July. The has been documented to switch larval foodplants between years of development.

Pyrgus centaureae01 by Tomi Salin. Used under a Copyrighted free use license.Pyrgus centaureae by M. Virtala. Used under a Copyrighted free use license.MZLU-00149952 dorsal (51095971972) by NSG group from Lund, Sweden. Used under a CC0 license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Pyrgus centaureae: /ˈpɪrɡəs sɛnˈtɔːriˌi/

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Images

Habitat

Mountainous regions of Scandinavia.

Distribution

Scandinavia (Norway, Finland); also recorded in North America.

Seasonality

active June and July.

Diet

feed on Dwarf birch (Betula nana) in their first year of development, switching to Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) in their second year.

Host Associations

  • Betula nana - larval foodplantUsed during first year of larval development
  • Rubus chamaemorus - larval foodplantUsed during second year of larval development

Life Cycle

Development spans two years. switch foodplants between the first and second year.

More Details

Bivoltine foodplant switching

One of only two European known to switch larval foodplants between years of development. This trait is shared with the Scarce Fritillary (Euphydryas maturna), though that species switches between unrelated (Oleaceae to Viburnaceae) rather than within the same individual.

Genome sequencing

sequence published 2025 as part of Darwin Tree of Life initiative (Wellcome Open Research).

Tags

Sources and further reading