Carcharodus orientalis Reverdin, 1913 Oriental Skipper, Hesperie levantine, Толстоголовка восточная.
Distribution and biological peculiarities in Armenia: The species is distributed from Montenegro and Greece to Asia Minor, Northern Iran, Caucasus, and Turkmenistan. Armenia is inhabited by subspecies C. o. teberdininus Devyatkin, 1990. The species is a specialist of calcareous grasslands, however its distribution in Armenia is very narrow: several spots in Central and Southern Parts of the country at elevation range elevation range between 1200 and 2400 m a.s.l. Various host-plants are known for the species, such as Stachys sp., Marrubium sp., and Balotta sp. The butterflies are on wing from May to June and from July to August in two generations.
Population dynamics: The species occurs in very low numbers, even within a typical habitat. Due to the reason the computation of population trend is complicated by scarce data.
Conservation measures: Although the species is a habitat specialist, it is not included in IUCN, European, and National Red Lists, as well as in Bern and CITES Conventions. Taking into consideration potential vulnerability of the species and the low number of data, we propose a conservation status of Data Deficient for the Oriental Skipper in Armenia. Distribution range of the species in some extent is covered by several Protected Areas, Emerald Sites, and Prime Butterfly Areas. To understand the threats and the necessity of development of conservation measures it is important to organize a detailed study of species’ distribution and abundance, as well as threats and other characteristics. Since the species is a target among butterfly-watchers, development of the tourism can potentially support its conservation.