Faded specimens of Carcharodus alceae are distinguished by glass spots in the forewing and by a jagged rear wing edge.
— Larva green with the head brown and yellow lateral stripe dotted with black: on Eryngium and Lotus, in July and late in the autumn.
In Bavaria, the distribution shows a noticeable change from more or less densely populated areas to regions in which the species is absent over long stretches.
With the exception of the East Bavarian low mountain range, the occurrence of the dingy skipper coincides with the distribution of limestone areas (Jura and Muschelkalk) or geological features (basalt, gypsum, basic sandstones such as dolomitic arkose).
A variety of habitats are used including chalk downland, woodland clearings, coastal dunes, railway lines and waste ground.
Extensive grassland with one or two-tier meadows and pastures as well as habitats with little vegetation with raw soil and initial plant communities are also regularly populated.
[4] The imagos prefer low-growing or very patchy vegetation and often stay on bare ground to sunbathe or to absorb moisture and minerals.
On the ground or on low plants, the males also move from perch in order to track down the females by approaching insects of suitable size.
Other suction plants are yellow-flowered Fabaceae such as Anthyllis vulneraria, Chamaecytisus ratisbonensis and Medicago falcata as well as blue- and violet-flowered mint flowers such as Salvia pratensis and Thymus spp.
Visits to flowers on taller perennials such as Cirsium arvense, Eupatorium cannabinum or Echium vulgare are rare, as the imagos mainly stay near the ground.
[4] Eggs are laid individually on the upper side of mostly terminal leaflets near the ground, with gaps or weak-growing, microclimatically favored locations being preferred.
The following egg-laying and host plants have been reported from Bavaria: Hippocrepis comosa, Lotus corniculatus, Securigera varia, Tetragonalobus maritimus.
Almost all reports relate to observations of oviposition or egg discoveries, only a single detection of an adult caterpillar was found in Lotus corniculatus.
[4] The hemispherical egg with clear longitudinal ribs is initially light yellow and later orange-red in color and is easily recognizable on the green upper side of the leaf with a targeted search.
Extensive grazing with sheep or cattle must therefore be continued on lime lawns, the most important type of habitat in central Europe.
Another contribution to the protection of the species is the preservation of small structures with patchy vegetation on fields, embankments and roadsides.
The creation of new habitats is also possible in sub-areas of the occurrence, for example on limestone gravel in the valleys of southern Bavaria, since the imagos often colonize anthropogenic secondary sites.
Suitable areas are e.g. flood dams, embankments or disused mining sites, which are maintained in a low-growing and gappy state by largely dispensing with planting and corresponding subsequent care.