Butterflies of
Britain & Europe
Small Skipper
Thymelicus
sylvestris
PODA, 1761
Family - HESPERIIDAE
subfamily -
HESPERIINAE
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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Small Skipper
Thymelicus sylvestris, male,
Stansted Forest, West Sussex, England |
Introduction
The
Small Skipper is a very common species occurring throughout most of Europe, but
is absent from Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia, and most Mediterranean islands.
It's range extends to include Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, the Middle East, Iran,
and eastward to the Black Sea.
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It
is easy to confuse this species with the Essex Skipper Thymelicus
lineola,
which often shares the same 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
narrow,
and runs parallel to the costa. The tips of the underside of the antennae are
glossy
black.
sylvestris : The
band of androconial scales is prominent and runs diagonally. The tips of the underside of the antennae are orange or dark reddish.
Comparison photos of both species are shown on the
lineola page.
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Small Skipper
Thymelicus sylvestris, female, Stansted Forest,
West Sussex, England |
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Small Skipper
Thymelicus sylvestris, male, Stansted Forest,
West Sussex, England |
The
simplest way to determine which of the above 2 species are present at a site is
to visit just before dusk, when the butterflies will be sitting quietly on grass
stems. The undersides of the antennae can then easily be examined without
resorting to capturing the insects.
Note
: It is also possible to confuse this species with
T. hamza,
which is more dusky in colour, and found only in north Africa; and with
T. hyrax,
which is slightly larger, more olive in colour, and found only in Greece,
Turkey, and the Middle East.
Habitats
In Britain the butterfly
is widely distributed, but it's range does not extend into the north of England,
Scotland or Ireland.
The larval foodplant is
the grass Yorkshire fog, and the butterfly breeds almost anywhere where this
species grows, particularly in places where it is ungrazed and allowed to grow
tall. Thus it occurs in woodland rides, on chalk and limestone grassland, on
heaths and moors, around field edges, and along hedgerows and railway cuttings.
It quickly colonises new
habitats, so small colonies often develop along road verges, motorway and
railway embankments, wasteland or set-aside farmland.
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Small Skipper
Thymelicus sylvestris, male, Bentley Wood,
Wiltshire, England |
Lifecycle
The adults emerge in late June or early July, and lay their eggs in
rows of 4 or
5, inserted into the sheath of grass stems, nearly
always Yorkshire fog
Holcus lanatus although Phleum pratense
and
Brachypodium sylvaticum
are also occasionally used.
The caterpillars hatch after about
12 days, and immediately consume their eggshells, but then spin
tiny cocoons inside the grass sheaths, within which they
hibernate until March or April of the following year.
In the spring they disperse and
live solitarily, resting inside shelters constructed by rolling
grass blades into tubes which are held together by a few strands
of silk. On dry days they leave the tubes to feed on nearby
leaves, on which they leave characteristic wedge-shaped feeding
notches. The fully grown larvae are pale green with darker
stripes along the back, and rest openly on grass blades in early
June.
The chrysalis, which is green and
shiny, with pink palpi projecting from the head, is formed
within a flimsy net-like cocoon amongst tufts of grass.
Adult behaviour
The
males are active in sunshine, and have a rapid buzzing flight,
"skipping" from flower to flower. Favoured nectar sources include
clovers, bird's foot trefoil, vetches, thistles, knapweeds and ox-eye
daisies.
Females are much more sedentary - they spend much of the time at
rest with the wings held erect, but in
weak or hazy sunshine they can be found sitting on grass blades or
stems, basking with their wings held in the characteristic
Hesperiine position. In dry weather they remain on the grass stems
overnight, roosting communally, but during wet spells they hide
deep in tussocks.
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