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Butterflies of Britain & Europe
 
Small Skipper
Thymelicus sylvestris  PODA, 1761
Family - HESPERIIDAE
subfamily - HESPERIINAE
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 

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.
 
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.
 

Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris, female, Stansted Forest, West Sussex, England

 

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.

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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