Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola)
Family: Hesperiidae
Subfamily: Hesperiinae
Genus: Thymelicus
Species: lineola
Key ID Features:
Similar to Small Skipper but 'sex-brands' on male are shorter and straight and veins on wing margins are darker, especially in the female.
Underside is more straw-coloured and less contrasting.
Tips of the antennae black, appearing as if 'dipped in black ink'.
Seen in UK: July and August
The Essex Skipper forms discrete colonies that vary from a small number of individuals to several thousand. Where it occurs it can therefore be very common. This species is very similar in appearance to the Small Skipper and, because of this similarity, was not recognised as a separate species until 1889. The male is distinguished from the female by the sex brand on its forewings, which is a short line of specialised scent scales. Despite its name, the Essex Skipper is now found over much of the southern half of England and it was first recorded in Wales in 2000 and in Wexford in south-east Ireland in 2006. On the British mainland it is to generally be found south of a line between Dorset and North Lincolnshire. It is believed that the increase in distribution is being assisted by the steep and grass-covered embankments that are often found on motorways and major trunk roads which acted as corridors – allowing this species to reach new locations more easily.
Text (c) UK Butterflies, used with permission
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Photographer: Tim Tapley
