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Open wings: These butterflies forewings are dark brown with some grey and chestnut colour shades, while the hindwings are entirely dark brown with two kinds of spot patterns which are rather dull and unclear.

Closed wings: Both of the wings are little lighter brown than on the inside. The margins with fimbriae are white and brown like a chess board, with some white spots on the hindwings, which are not covered in white veins.

Similar species

Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus tripolinus, Verity, 1925), is identical, so it is necessary to examine its male sex organ in order to identify the species.

Marbled Skipper: When it opens wings, there are series of white striking spots on each wing, while the closed hindwings are rather white.

Carcharodus baeticus (Rambur, 1840): When their wings are open, these butterflies are grey and reddish, and sometimes they have white spots which are more prominent on the hindwings. White veins can be observed when their wings are closed.

Tufted Skipper or Tufted Marbled Skipper (Charcaharodus flocciferus, Zeller, 1847): When these butterflies' wings are open, similarly to the previous species, there are series of white spots which stand out on the hindwings. When their wings are closed, white spots are more prominent than in the case of other species.

Biology and Habitat

These butterflies fly throughout the year, taking several generations, some of them at the same time, to do so.

They are particularly common at the beginning of autumn, if the summer was rainy. They can be found in varied habitats, above all, in those places which have been adapted, such as parks and gardens, where their mallow foodplants (Malva or Lavathera genus) grow.

Distribution in the Great Path

These butterflies can be found all along the Great Málaga path, though there are not many tons in which they can be seen nor they are present in big numbers. This species was seen in Manilva and Vélez-Málaga, but the exact locations where they come are not known, nor do we know where precisely they can be seen along the Great Path.