Essex Skipper

A small butterfly with a darting flight, widespread in England and Wales. Bright orange-brown wings held with forewings angled above hind wings. Males have a thin black line through the centre of the forewing, parallel to the leading edge. Small Skipper is similar but lacks black tips to the antenna (best-viewed head-on) and has longer scent brand, angled to the edge of the forewing.

Essex Skipper butterflies closely resemble and are often found in company with Small Skippers. Because of the similarities, the Essex Skipper has been overlooked both in terms of recording and ecological study, and it was the last British resident species to be described (in 1889).

The distribution of the Essex Skipper in Britain has more than doubled in the last few decades.

Size and Family

• Family: Skippers
• Size: Small 
• Wing Span Range (male to female) - 27-30mm

Conservation Status

• GB Red List (2022): Least Concern
• Butterfly Conservation priority: Low
• Low European Status: Not threatened

Caterpillar Foodplants

The main species used is Cock’s-foot (Dactylis glomerata), although the butterfly may use several other grasses including Creeping Soft-grass (Holcus mollis), Common Couch (Elytrigia repens), Timothy (Phleum pratense), Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis), False Brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum), and Tor-grass (B. pinnatum). It rarely uses Yorkshire-fog (Holcus lanatus), the preferred foodplant of the Small Skipper.

Lifecycle

Habitat

Found in tall, dry grasslands in open sunny situations, especially roadside verges, woodland rides and acid grasslands as well as coastal marshes.

Distribution

• Countries: England and Wales
• Widespread in southern and central England, but not in the far south-west
• Abundance trend: -20% (1977-2019)
• Distribution trend: 82% (1978-2019)