Essex Skippers (Thymelicus lineola) in Derbyshire

July 30:2011:
Over recent years Essex Skippers have gradually spread northwards through England and are now well established in Derbyshire. A visit today to a locality near Willington provided an opportunity to compare the Essex Skipper with the very similar Small Skipper. This was at a large rough grassy field, ideal skipper habitat, with flowering thistles, ragwort, willowherb, clovers and much else. Essex Skippers emerge slightly later in the season than Small Skippers and here they outnumbered the latter by a ratio of at least 3 to 1.


[Skipper field at Willington]

The two species are very similar both in appearance and in habit and are difficult to separate unless a very close view can be gained. The easiest distinguishing character is that the Essex is black on the underside of the antenna clubs, whereas in the Small this is brown-orange. Another difference is that the male Essex has a short line of dark scent scales on the upperside of the forewing which runs parallel to the wing's edge. In the Small Skipper this line is longer and curves slightly away from the wing's edge towards the abdomen. Photos showing these main distinguishing characters along with more general ones of the Essex Skippers are below.


[Essex Skipper showing black on the underside of the antenna clubs]


[Essex Skipper (male) showing the short dark scent scale line running parallel to the forewing edge]


[Small Skipper showing orange-brown on the underside of the antenna clubs]


[Small Skipper (male) showing the longer dark curved scent scale line slightly diverging from the forewing edge]

A few more Essex Skippers photos are below.

BUTTERFLY: Skippers: Large and Small, Lancashire and Cumbria

June 19-30, 2010:
Large Skippers and Small Skippers are superficially of similar appearance. Whilst the Large Skipper is found throughout most of the country almost as far north as central Scotland, the Small Skipper's northern limit (whilst quite similar) is further south, where it reaches south Cumbria on the west side and somewhat further north on the east. Both species occupy grassy areas, such as meadows, waste ground and roadside verges, and utilise various species of grass as their larval food plant. The males of both species possess a prominent dark line of scent scales on the upper side of the fore wing; this is absent in the females. The Large Skipper is best differentiated from its close relative in its possession of small, almost rectangular, contrasting pale markings, best seen on the upper surface of the wings. The Small Skipper is unmarked in this way and sometimes appears paler overall. It emerges about two weeks later than the Large Skipper. Personal observations suggest that the Small Skipper exhibits a lower, more fluttering type of flight, and appears slighty smaller and paler when seen on the wing compared to the Large Skipper.

Top four photos below: Small Skipper. Lowest two photos: Large Skipper. The dark line of the males' scent scales can be seen on the upper surfaces of the forewings. All shown are males except for the top photo and the right-hand butterfly in the second photo (which are both females).






[Small Skipper (four above), Large Skipper (two below)



[Variously photographed at Gait Barrows and Heysham (Lancashire) and Latterbarrow (Cumbria), June 19-30, 2010]