Hesperiidae : Hesperiinae
Essex Skipper
THYMELICUS lineola (Ochsenheimer, 1808)
Essex Skipper
THYMELICUS lineola (Ochsenheimer, 1808)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Alternative Names: European Skipper : European Skipperling-U.S.A
Wingspan: 26-30mm
Worldwide Distribution: N.Africa:Europe:Central Asia:Amurland:N.America
UK Distribution: South East England:North to Lincolnshire:West to Somerset:Dorset:Devon:Cornwall.
UK Conservation Status -
Flight Period: May:August:Univoltine(One Brood)
Habitat: Roadside Verges:Woodland Rides:Flower Meadows:Rough Grassland.
Ovum: The female may take considerable time selecting the appropriate grass stem before depositing 4/5 white flat,oval,kidney shaped ova in a row between the sheath of grasses, including Timothy-grass and Perennial Rygrass.
Larva: Late March-Late June : 20-24mm fully grown
Pupa: Mid June-Late July
Overwinters as: Fully formed larva inside ovum case
Observations: First discovered in Essex in 1888, T.lineola is often mistaken for the T.sylvestris, resulting in under-recording of Essex Skippers, making it difficult to establish the true range and numbers of this butterfly.
The Essex Skipper is often confused with the Small Skipper which shares a similar habitat, but can be differentiated by close inspection of the antennae tips which,when viewed from the underside are black in T.lineola and reddish brown in T.sylvestris also the sex brand on the males forewings are short and parallel to the forewing of T.lineola but long and angled to the forewing of T.sylvestris.
The Essex Skipper was accidentally introduced into Canada,via London,Ontario in 1910, possibly imported in bales of hay, where it has rapidly spread south into the northern regions of the USA.
It is now considered a pest of hay crops in North America.
The Essex Skipper portrays similar behavior patterns to the Small Skipper with the males being lively and territorial, whereas the females tend to be sedentary,preferring to rest on grass stems.
Wingspan: 26-30mm
Worldwide Distribution: N.Africa:Europe:Central Asia:Amurland:N.America
UK Distribution: South East England:North to Lincolnshire:West to Somerset:Dorset:Devon:Cornwall.
UK Conservation Status -
- Least Concern - Red List
- Least Concern
- Thymelicus lineola (Ochsenheimer, 1808)
- Papilio acteon Rottemburg, 1775
- Germany
Flight Period: May:August:Univoltine(One Brood)
Habitat: Roadside Verges:Woodland Rides:Flower Meadows:Rough Grassland.
Ovum: The female may take considerable time selecting the appropriate grass stem before depositing 4/5 white flat,oval,kidney shaped ova in a row between the sheath of grasses, including Timothy-grass and Perennial Rygrass.
Larva: Late March-Late June : 20-24mm fully grown
Pupa: Mid June-Late July
Overwinters as: Fully formed larva inside ovum case
Observations: First discovered in Essex in 1888, T.lineola is often mistaken for the T.sylvestris, resulting in under-recording of Essex Skippers, making it difficult to establish the true range and numbers of this butterfly.
The Essex Skipper is often confused with the Small Skipper which shares a similar habitat, but can be differentiated by close inspection of the antennae tips which,when viewed from the underside are black in T.lineola and reddish brown in T.sylvestris also the sex brand on the males forewings are short and parallel to the forewing of T.lineola but long and angled to the forewing of T.sylvestris.
The Essex Skipper was accidentally introduced into Canada,via London,Ontario in 1910, possibly imported in bales of hay, where it has rapidly spread south into the northern regions of the USA.
It is now considered a pest of hay crops in North America.
The Essex Skipper portrays similar behavior patterns to the Small Skipper with the males being lively and territorial, whereas the females tend to be sedentary,preferring to rest on grass stems.
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
The preferred foodplant of the Essex Skipper in England is Cock's-foot : Dactylis glomerata although it also uses
many of the european grasses shown below.
Unlike the Small Skipper, Yorkshire-fog : Holcus lanatus, is seldom used.
The preferred foodplant of the Essex Skipper in England is Cock's-foot : Dactylis glomerata although it also uses
many of the european grasses shown below.
Unlike the Small Skipper, Yorkshire-fog : Holcus lanatus, is seldom used.
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.
- Poaceae - Gramineae - True Grasses Family
- Arrhenatherum elatius - False oat-grass
- Agrostis capillaries - Common Bent Grass
- Agrostis gigantea - Redtop
- Alopecurus pratensis - Meadow Foxtail
- Anthoxanthum odoratum - Sweet vernal grass
- Brachypodium pinnatum - Tor-grass
- Brachypodium sylvaticum - False Brome
- Bromopsis erecta - Upright Brome
- Calamagrostis epigejos - Wood-small Reed
- Dactylis glomerata - Cock's-foot - Orchard grass
- Deschampsia cespitosa - Tufted hair-grass - Tussock
- Elymus repens - Couch grass
- Holcus mollis - Creeping Soft Grass
- Phalaris arundinacea - Reed canary grass
- Phleum pratense - Timothy-grass
- Lolium perenne - Perennial Ryegrass
- Cyperaceae - Sedge Family
- Carex acutiformis - Lesser Pond Sedge
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Poaceae - Gramineae - Triticum - Wheat
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Carex acutiformis - Lesser Pond Sedge
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - THYMELICUS: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms/Aberrations: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Hesperiidae Hesperiinae Thymelini THYMELICUS Hübner, [1819] Thymelicus lineola (Ochsenheimer, 1808) - Papilio acteon Rottemburg, 1775 - THYMELICUS lineola (Ochsenheimer 1808) = Papilio virgula Hübner, 1809 = Pamphila kirbyi Reed, 1877 = Pamphila ludoviciae Mabille, 1883 = Adopaea pallida Tutt, 1896 = Adopaea clara Tutt, 1905 = Adopaea intermedia Tutt, 1905 = Adopaea majorclara Tutt, 1905 = Adopaea major Tutt, 1905 = Adopaea suffusa Tutt, 1905 = Hesperia ardens Oberthür, 1910 = Adopaea brunnea Tutt, 1925 = Thymelicus diluta Graves, 1925 = Adopaea hemmingi Romei, 1927 = Adopaea pseudothaumas Zerny, 1927 = Adopaea melissus Zerny, 1932 = Adopoea fornax Hemming, 1934 = Adopaea antiardens Lempke, 1939 = Adopaea intermediaclara Verity, 1940 = Adopaea intermedialineola Verity, 1940 = Adopaea majornitida Verity, 1940 = Hesperia italamixta Verity, 1940 = Thymelicus marginatus Picard, 1948 - Die Schmetterlinge von Europa. Erster Band. Zweyte Abtheilung. - pp. 1-240. Leipzig. (Fleischer). Title Page : p.230 - Germany - T.l. brunnea Tutt, 1906 T.l. clara Tutt, 1906 T.l. fulva Lempke, 1953 T.l. sinelinea Lempke, 1953 T.l. suffusa Tutt, 1906 - T.l.lineola Ochsenheimer, 1808-All but below T.l.semicolon Staudinger, 1892-Morocco : Algeria T.l.kushana Wyatt, 1961-N.Afghanistan T.l.melissus Zerny, 1932-Lebanon T.l.fornax Hemming, 1934-Jordan. |