Pyrgus carthami is distributed from the Iberian Peninsula to the Balkans and Central Europe (here up to a maximum of 54 degrees of latitude).

[3] This species is absent from North Africa, peninsular Italy, northern France, the British Isles and Scandinavia.

In many cases, these are also locations with open rocks and gravel heaps on former shell limestone mining areas.

In this natural area there are rocky locations, especially on corrugated limestone, in the Franconian Jura on Malm or along dolomite rocks.

Also newly created embankments, e.g. in the course of road construction work from lime shards, are used as larval habitat after the host plant has settled.

The males show a sitting behavior when looking for a partner and after disturbance occupy their territories again, even if not always at the same seat guard.

The overwintering usually takes place in the fourth and penultimate caterpillar stage, but this can vary depending on the altitude.

This is where the food intake takes place and at the same time it offers good protection against solar radiation and predators.

The imagos are regular visitors to flowers and prefer to suckle on yellow-flowering plants such as Hippocrepis comosa and Lotus corniculatus agg.

170 m in Main Franconia to around 560 m in the Franconian Jura and should correspond to the height range in which the species also has reproduction habitats.

The most important protective measure consists in the preservation and promotion of the dry grassland populated by P. carthami.

Artificial embankments made of stony excavation material, which are created e.g. as part of road construction measures, should not be planted and can then offer a new habitat.