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Butterflies of Britain & Europe
 
Chequered Skipper
Carterocephalus palaemon PALLAS, 1771
Family - HESPERIIDAE
subfamily - HETEROPTERINAE
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Carterocephalus palaemon, Spean Bridge, Highlands, Scotland
 
Introduction
 
The Chequered Skipper is distributed across much of central and northern Europe, but is absent from Spain, Portugal, peninsular Italy, and the Mediterranean coast. Beyond Europe it occurs across temperate Asia to Japan, and also occurs across the Hudsonian zone of Canada, and in the Rocky mountains of the USA, where it is known as the Arctic Skipperling.
 
Many older works treat this species as a member of the Hesperiinae, but it is currently classified as a member of the Heteropterinae due to differences in the structure of the antennae, palpi and venation. There are only a few members of this sub-family that occur in the northern hemisphere. In South America there are many related species in the genus Dalla - largely montane species from the Andes; and another similar genus, Metisella, occurs in the tropics of Africa.
 
The only European species with which palaemon can be confused is the Northern Chequered Skipper Carterocephalus silvicolus, which is similar on the underside, but in which the yellow spots on the upperside are larger and merge together. The latter species is found in north Germany, Poland, and in sub-arctic regions from Scandinavia to Siberia, Amurland and northern Japan.
 
Carterocephalus palaemon, Morvern, Scotland
 
Habitats
 
In Britain the Chequered Skipper was once quite widespread, occurring across much of central and eastern England, but it contracted it's range, probably as a consequence of drainage of the Great Fen, and the large scale conversion of land to agriculture. By the early part of the 20th century the species was thought to be confined to a few counties in the east Midlands, but in 1942 it was discovered by a collector, Mackworth-Praed, in Western Inverness-shire in Scotland. In 1982 I surveyed the Highlands for this species, and found it widespread, discovering 14 colonies including 4 that were not previously known. The English colonies became extinct long ago due to habitat degradation and fragmentation, but attempts to re-introduce the butterfly are currently under way.
 
In Scotland the butterfly is found at warm, sheltered and damp sites where the larval foodplant, purple moor grass Molinea caerulea grows in lightly wooded areas. Examples include open oak-woods, lightly wooded gullies on hillsides and mountains, sunny glades in birch woodland, young conifer plantations, damp scrubby areas on northern and eastern shores of Lochs, sheltered woodland clearings, and roadside verges in wooded areas.
 
In Europe it occurs primarily in damp, sunny glades and clearings in woodland, on acidic or calcareous soils, at altitudes up to about 1600m.
 
Lifecycle
 
In Scotland the butterflies emerge in late May and fly until mid June.
 
The shiny white spherical eggs are laid singly on the upperside of grass blades. Oviposition occurs primarily on grasses growing in dappled sunlight beneath bog myrtle bushes. They are usually laid on Molinea caerulea, but occasionally on Brachypodium sylvaticum, which was the grass used by the species at it's former English sites. A much wider range of grasses are used in Europe and North America.
 
The caterpillar makes it's first meal of the eggshell. It later constructs a shelter made by rolling a blade of grass into a tube, held together with strands of silk. As it grows, it moves to other grass blades and constructs larger tubes. It feeds diurnally, eating little notches out of the grass blade above and below where it rests.
 
Like other grass-feeding skippers, the larva is equipped with a pair of prongs at the tail end, which it uses to flick away it's droppings ( frass ). This helps to prevent the grass shelter from becoming fouled, and also removes evidence of the larva's whereabouts, which might otherwise attract parasitoids or predators.
 
In late September, when the larva is fully grown, it constructs a silken tent amongst the grass blades, where it hibernates until April. The mature larva is pale green, but during the autumn the colour gradually changes to pale straw, matching the surroundings.
 
Prior to pupation in early May, the larva constructs yet another shelter, made from dead grasses and silk. The long thin chrysalis is formed within the shelter. It is pale ochreous, marked with dark lines along the back and sides. The pupal stage lasts for about 2 weeks.
 
Adult behaviour

 

On sunny mornings males establish perches at a height of about 2 metres on bushes, from which they dart to intercept all passing small dark insects. Other male Chequered Skippers are ousted from the vicinity, and females are mated without preliminary courtship rituals.

 

Both sexes spend long periods basking on the terminal leaves of shoots of bog myrtle, birch, and other small trees or shrubs. Unlike Hesperiine skippers, this species usually basks with the wings spread flat.

 

They nectar, with wings closed, at dandelion and bugle, but also visit marsh lousewort, bluebells, and orchids. In Scotland, and also in the French Alps, I have frequently found them mud-puddling, always singly, at ditches or wet soil.

 

In dull dry weather and overnight, the butterflies roost on the terminal leaves of small bog myrtle bushes, or sometimes on bracken fronds or clumps of heather. In wet weather they hide themselves deep within grass tussocks.

 
                                                       
Almost every British and European species of butterfly is declining rapidly in numbers, due in most cases to loss or degradation of habitats.
 
You can help to reverse the decline by supporting conservation organisations which purchase and manage habitats as nature reserves, and which lobby government at local, national and international levels, often very successfully, to bring about changes in farming, forestry and urban development policies.
 
Please contact the conservation organisations for advice on how you can help protect British and European butterflies and their habitats. You may be able to offer practical help e.g. by monitoring butterfly populations or helping to manage nature reserves. Donations to these organisations enable them to employ ecologists and biologists. Even if you are unable to provide such help, merely having your name on the membership list can be a powerful tool for conservation organisations wishing to demonstrate the levels of support they have for their policies.

 

 
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