A high altitude Pyrgus, with a normal minimum altitude of 1600m, although generally found much higher. Based on my early but limited experience it seemed to be a rather scruffy species, the upperside ground colour being a dirty dark grey-brown with strong but rather unclear upf white marks.

However, that may have been a function of the flight period, as experience in 2024, a notably "late" year produced fresh clean individuals in a number of locations, as shown above. It is also a conspicuously large species, apparent when seen puddling in company with other Pyrgus species. For a species that is not frequently seen, it seemed to be more widespread in 2024, a trend not found in other species, including its Pyrgus cousins.

The upf identification keys are the three white marks in the discal region of s1/2, although these are sometimes obscure, and the oblique well-defined long discal streaks in s7, plus maybe a relatively weak cell spot. The uph is largely unmarked, the marks being rather obscure, almost appearing diaphanous.

The underside is similarly rather dark and rather untidy compared to most of its Pyrgus cousins, but similar to the Dusky Grizzled Skipper (P. cacaliae) with which it often flies, and the two can be distinguished from the others by the unh marks in s1. It also appears, from limited experience, that the uns ground colour of andromedae is a dark greyish-brown whereas the cacaliae ground colour is a much lighter, paler, brown. Whether this is generally true is unclear to me.

observations

a male, with the three upf discal marks in s1/2 are rather better defined.

I am not suggesting that 22288 is andromedae, but equally it does not seem to fit any other species, so I leave it here for comment. The strongly marked uph rules out cacaliae and probably also andromedae as I am sure this is beyond the limits of variation for these two species. Equally the weak upf marks seem to rule out everything except the Large Grizzled Skipper (P. alveus). Maybe the upf marks are just within the limits for andromedae. Occasionally a Pyrgus turns up that is rather oddly marked and does not seem to fit the template for any species. This may be one of them.