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Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.
Butterflies of Britain & Europe
 
Essex Skipper
Thymelicus lineola OCHSENHEIMER, 1808
Family - HESPERIIDAE
subfamily - HESPERIINAE
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola, male, Stockbridge Down, Hampshire, England
Note the tiny crab spider lying in wait on the wild basil flower !
 
Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola, female, Stansted Forest, West Sussex, England
 
Introduction
 
The Essex Skipper is a very common and widely distributed species in Europe, occurring throughout the region with the exceptions of Sardinia and northern Scandinavia. It's range extends eastward across Asia from Turkey to Amurland. In Africa it is a common species north of the Sahara, particularly on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco and Algeria. The butterfly was accidentally introduced into Canada in 1910, and has since spread across much of North America.
 
It is very easy to confuse this species with the Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris, with which it often shares it's habitats. It can be separated from that species by the following points :
 
 
lineola : The band of dark androconial scales on the forewings of the male is very thin, and runs parallel to the costa. The tips of the underside of the antennae are black.
 
sylvestris : The band of androconial scales runs diagonally. The tips of the underside of the antennae are orange or dark reddish. The ground colour is a brighter golden brown.
 

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola, male

Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris, male
 

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola

Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris
 
Habitats
 
In Britain the butterfly was formerly restricted to Essex and Suffolk, but in the latter part of the 20th century spread rapidly across most of the southern counties of England, via motorway verges. Dispersal was further aided by humans, who inadvertently transported the eggs in hay bales.
 
The species is now common and widespread on rough grassland throughout much of central and south-eastern England, with smaller isolated colonies in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. It is likely however that the species is under-recorded due to it's similarity with sylvestris, and is likely to be discovered elsewhere, perhaps in south Wales.
 

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola, female, Farlington Marshes, Hampshire, England

 
It is commonest at ungrazed habitats where grasses grow tall, such as roadside verges, motorway embankments, field headlands, sand dunes, undercliffs etc. At grazed sites it breeds mainly along the base of hedgerows, or close to bushes - areas which rabbits and domestic livestock tend to avoid. Thus scrubby grassland sites tend to have stronger populations than more open habitats.
 
Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola, female, Farlington Marshes, Hampshire, England
 
Lifecycle
 
The butterflies emerge slightly later than the Small Skipper, in mid-late July.
 
The eggs, which are lozenge-shaped and milky white in colour, are laid in strings of 3 or 4, inserted into the flower sheaths of cocksfoot Dactylis glomerata, creeping soft grass Holcus mollis, timothy Phleum pratense, and tor grass Brachypodium pinnatum, but never on Yorkshire fog grass Holcus lanatus, the main foodplant of the Small Skipper. The eggs are laid in late July, and by early August the tiny caterpillars are fully developed within, but do not hatch until the following April.
 
The caterpillars live within a shelter made by rolling a blade of grass into a tube, which is held together with strands of silk. It hides within the tube during the daytime, and feeds at dusk, although fully grown caterpillars can sometimes by found basking in full sunlight on grass blades.
 
The chrysalis, which is thin, green, and has white palpi, is formed within a very loose shelter constructed by spinning together rolled grass blades, at the base of a tussock.
 
Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola, male, Stockbridge Down, Hampshire, England
 
Adult behaviour

 

The adults usually occur in sizeable colonies, where populations may run into hundreds or thousands of individuals.

 

In common with most other grass-feeding skippers, the butterflies have a rapid buzzing and purposeful flight, "skipping" from flower to flower. They nectar at a wide range of plants including small scabious, thistles, knapweed, red clover, white clover, marjoram, ox-eye daisy, wild mignonette, thyme, tufted vetch, self-heal, betony, ragwort, yarrow, fleabane, wild basil, hedge bedstraw and bird's foot trefoil.

 

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola, male, Stockbridge Down, Hampshire, England

 

In overcast weather they are inactive, but in hazy sunlight they spend long periods basking, in the characteristic Hesperiine posture, half hidden amongst tall grasses. In hot weather they tend to settle with their wings fully closed, on grass flowerheads, or high on the stems.

 

As dusk approaches, Essex and Small Skippers migrate to sheltered sunlit areas of tall grasses, where they roost in hundreds, often with 2 or 3 individuals sharing a single grass head. At this time it is easy to approach the insects, and the ideal time to examine them in determine which of the 2 species are present, and in what ratio.

 

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola, Farlington Marshes, Hampshire, England
 
                                                       
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.

 

 
Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007-2008, and must not be reproduced or published in part or in whole elsewhere in any form without written permission from Adrian Hoskins. Breach of copyright will be pursued by litigation.
 
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