(Poda, 1761)
Small Skipper
Description:
The Small Skipper occurs in all sorts of flower-rich places with tall grass, such as grasslands, road verges and edges of streams. They are often seen with the Essex Skipper (T. lineola) and can be distinguished from it by the colour of the underside of the antennal club, which ranges from brown to yellow, while that of the Essex Skipper is black. Furthermore, the scent brand on the forewing of the male is broader and more conspicuous than that of the Essex Skipper. The butterflies are fond of visiting thistles, knapweeds and other purple or pink flowers for their nectar.
The female deposits her eggs in batches of three to twenty in the leaf-sheaths of coarse-leaved grasses. Unlike the Essex Skipper, she only uses young, green leaves. After about three weeks, the eggs hatch and the small caterpillars begin spinning a shelter straightaway in which to hibernate. Only the next spring do they begin to feed and grow. At first, they only feed during the day and later also at night. They pupate in a web of loosely spun white threads.
The Small Skipper is single-brooded, but the butterflies emerge over a long period.
Habitat:
Dry siliceous grasslands
Dry calcareous grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Deciduous forests
Similar species:
Thymelicus lineola
Thymelicus acteon
Thymelicus hyrax