Hesperiidae : Pyrginae
Dingy Skipper
ERYNNIS tages (Linnaeus, 1758)
Dingy Skipper
ERYNNIS tages (Linnaeus, 1758)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: 27-34mm
Worldwide Distribution: Central Europe:Southern Europe:Not Iberian Peninsula:Russia:Siberia:Central Asia:China:Amur.
UK Distribution: Dingy Skipper strongholds occur in Hampshire,Dorset,Wiltshire & along southern coasts of Wales:Scarce in East Anglia:Good populations in most Northern England counties:Localised in Ireland:Only British Islands having populations,Anglesey & Isle of Wight:Found in Scotland around Aberdeen,Banff & Ross and also along the South West coast.
UK Conservation Status -
Flight Period: UK-Late April-Mid June-with possible partial second brood later in the year : Central & Northern Europe-Late June-Late August : Univoline (One brood ) & Bivoline (Two broods)in Southern Europe.
Habitat: Warm South facing down lands:Dunes,cliffs and under cliffs where Bird's-foot Trefoil can be found in abundance:Abandoned quarries where conservation grazing is undertaken:Woods:River banks.
Larvae: Late June-August: Feeds in a cage like structure formed with leaves and silk. Fully grown-16-20mm
Pupa: Pupates in hibernaculum in the spring
Overwinters as: Fully grown larva in a tent, known as a hibernaculum
Observations: Sadly,the Dingy Skipper is a declining species in the UK and many other European countries mainly due to intensive farming practices and the resulting loss of its larval food plants.
Colonies of Dingy Skipper are generally small in numbers as I have experienced at Noar Hill near Selborne and Martin Down near Salisbury.Colony numbers rarely exceed ten and are quite often half this number.The Dingy Skipper is a sun worshipper and can often be found with wings outstretched on bare patches of ground,but as the sun goes in or the day comes to a close they can be found perched with their wings uniquely curved around dead flowers heads in a moth like fashion.
It appears that following generations of this skipper can always be found in exactly the same location on a site as their predecessors.
Worldwide Distribution: Central Europe:Southern Europe:Not Iberian Peninsula:Russia:Siberia:Central Asia:China:Amur.
UK Distribution: Dingy Skipper strongholds occur in Hampshire,Dorset,Wiltshire & along southern coasts of Wales:Scarce in East Anglia:Good populations in most Northern England counties:Localised in Ireland:Only British Islands having populations,Anglesey & Isle of Wight:Found in Scotland around Aberdeen,Banff & Ross and also along the South West coast.
UK Conservation Status -
- NERC S.41 : 2008 (England) & NERC S.42 : 2009 (Wales) - Species "of principle importance for the purpose of conserving biodiversity
- Northern Ireland - Priority Species : 2010
- Vulnerable -Butterfly Red List for Great Britain 2010
- BAP : 2007 - Priority Species
- Least Concern
- Papilio tages (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Papilo tages (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Europe
Flight Period: UK-Late April-Mid June-with possible partial second brood later in the year : Central & Northern Europe-Late June-Late August : Univoline (One brood ) & Bivoline (Two broods)in Southern Europe.
Habitat: Warm South facing down lands:Dunes,cliffs and under cliffs where Bird's-foot Trefoil can be found in abundance:Abandoned quarries where conservation grazing is undertaken:Woods:River banks.
Larvae: Late June-August: Feeds in a cage like structure formed with leaves and silk. Fully grown-16-20mm
Pupa: Pupates in hibernaculum in the spring
Overwinters as: Fully grown larva in a tent, known as a hibernaculum
Observations: Sadly,the Dingy Skipper is a declining species in the UK and many other European countries mainly due to intensive farming practices and the resulting loss of its larval food plants.
Colonies of Dingy Skipper are generally small in numbers as I have experienced at Noar Hill near Selborne and Martin Down near Salisbury.Colony numbers rarely exceed ten and are quite often half this number.The Dingy Skipper is a sun worshipper and can often be found with wings outstretched on bare patches of ground,but as the sun goes in or the day comes to a close they can be found perched with their wings uniquely curved around dead flowers heads in a moth like fashion.
It appears that following generations of this skipper can always be found in exactly the same location on a site as their predecessors.
Subspecies
E.t.tages Linnaeus, 1758 All areas,including most of Britain, but except southern part of Iberian peninsula - Nominate Subspecies
E.t.tages Linnaeus, 1758 All areas,including most of Britain, but except southern part of Iberian peninsula - Nominate Subspecies
Typical Habitat
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Dingy Skipper larvae feed on plant families described below plant photos.
Dingy Skipper larvae feed on plant families described below plant photos.
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Apiaceae - Umbelliferae - Umbellifer Family
- Eryngium campestre - Field Eryngo
- Fabaceae - Leguminosea - The Pulse - Bean - Pea - Legume Family
- Coronilla varia - Crown Vetch
- Hippocrepis comosa - Horseshoe Vetch
- Lotus corniculatus - Bird's-foot Trefoil
- Lotus uliginosus - Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil
- Medicago lupulina - Black Medick
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily Tribe: Genus: Subgenus Accepted Species Name: Type Species ERYNNIS: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms/Aberrations: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Hesperiidae Pyrginae Pyrgini ERYNNIS Schrank, 1801 tages Linnaeus 1758 Erynnis tages (Linnaeus, 1758) - Papilio tages (Linnaeus 1758) - PAPILIO tages (Linnaeus 1758) = Papilio morio Scopoli, 1763 = Erynnis geryon Rottemburg, 1775 = Erynnis clarus Caradja, 1895 = Niconiades fulva Tutt, 1906 = Nisoniades alcoides Tutt, 1906 = Niconiades suffusavariegata Tutt, 1906 = Erynnis minima Lambillion, 1907 = Erynnis coelestina Stauder, 1914 = Erynnis polioides Cabeau, 1920 = Erynnis subclarus Verity, 1921 = Erynnis isabellae Lambillion, 1924 = Erynnis posticeprivata Stauder, 1924 = Zopyrion pamphilus Hayward, 1933 = Erynnis magnatages Verity, 1938 = Erynnis torquatilla Kauffman, 1955 = Erynnis pallidafulvus Eaves & Eaves, 1978 = Erynnis radiata Brown, 1970 - Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title page : p.485 n.168 - Europe - E.t. albalinea Frohawk, 1938 E.t. alcoides Tutt, 1906 E.t. brunnea-alcoides Tutt, 1906 E.t. brunnea-transversa Tutt, 1906 E.t. brunnea-variegata Tutt, 1906 E.t. fulva Tutt, 1906 E.t. poliodes Cabeau, 1920 E.t. posticeprivata Stauder, 1924 E.t. suffusa-transversa Tutt, 1906 E.t. suffusa-variegata Tutt, 1906 E.t. transversa Tutt, 1906 E.t. variegata Tutt, 1906 - E.t.tages Linnaeus, 1758-All areas inluding Great Britain except * apart from southern part of Iberian peninsula E.t.baynesi Huggins, 1956-Western Ireland in the Burren & SE Galway * E.t.unicolor Freyer, 1852-Transcaucasia E.t.elbursina Bytinski-Salz, 1937-Iran E.t.cervantes Graslin,1836-S.Spain |