Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineolus

       

Scientific Name: Thymelicus lineolus (Hesperiidae).

English Name: Essex Skipper (Skipper family).


French Name: L'Hespérie du dactyle (='cocksfoot grass skipper').

5 Key Characters: 

• sex mark on male forewing thin and indistinct.
• underneath of antennae tips black.
• small (c30mm from wingtip to wingtip).
• tawny orange with black edges.
• gregarious -- where you see one you are likely to see others.
  

Lookalikes: Other tawny skippers, especially Small Skipper T. sylvestris, which has a stronger sex mark and a narrower black wing edge.


Habitat: Open grassland.


Flight Period: June-July-August.


Status: Very common.

Caterpillar Host Plant: Grasses such as Upright Brome Bromus erectus, Bald Brome B. racemosus, Creeping Soft Grass Holcus mollis, Common Bent Agrostis capillaris.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Nectaring on Field Scabious Knautia arvensis.