The large skipper (''Ochlodes sylvanus'') is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

of the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

Taxonomy

It was long known as '' Ochlodes venatus'', but this is a

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The te ...

ern relative. There is still some dispute whether this species should be considered a distinct species or included in ''O. venatus'' as a subspecies. Under ICZN rules the specific name, originally proposed as ''Papilio sylvanus'', is invalid as a homonym (of the butterfly now called '' Anthene sylvanus''), but it has been conserved by an ICZN commission decision in 2000.

Distribution and habitat

This species occurs from Europe to the East

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...

(northern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

, China and Japan). In the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (O ...

it occurs in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and south western

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

.Fauna europaea
/ref>
/ref> It can be found anywhere where wild grasses are allowed to grow tall. Hedgerows, woodland clearings and edges are favourites.

Description

''Ochlodes sylvanus'' has a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

of 28–32 mm, which is similar in size to Chequered skipper. Although called "large" this is still a relatively small butterfly and not much larger than either the

small Small may refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back * ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text ...

or Essex skippers. The body is rather squat. The antennae are hooked at their tips. The upperside of the wings is orange-brown with a brown border and some lighter spots. The underside of the hindwings is greenish-yellow, marked with sparse yellow spots. The male has a broad scented androconial dark line across the top of the forewings. On the hindwings of the females there are brighter square marks. When the wings are opened, the forewings are obliquely folded, masking the hindwings. The faint chequered pattern on both the upperside and underside, and also the hook-shaped antenna tips, help to distinguish the large skipper from these two orange skippers. The

Lulworth skipper The Lulworth skipper (''Thymelicus acteon'') is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Its name is derived from Lulworth Cove in the county of Dorset, England, where the first specimens in Great Britain were collected in 1832 by English nat ...

also has patterned wings, but does not have the hooked antennae. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...

can reach a length of . It has a large blackish-brown head and a bluish green body, with a dark line down its back and a yellow stripe along each side.

Life cycle and foodplants

In northern Europe these butterflies have a single brood, but in the south they may have up to three broods. Eggs are laid singly on the underside of foodplant leaves and hatch after about two weeks. They are normally laid on

cocksfoot ''Dactylis'' is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the bluegrass subfamily within the grass family. ''Dactylis'' is native to North Africa, they are found throughout the world, and are an invasive species. They are known in English ...

(''Dactylis glomerata'') but they will occasionally use

purple moor-grass ''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid ...

(''Molinia caerulea''), false brome (''Brachypodium sylvaticum''), tor-grass (''B. pinnatum'') and wood small-reed (''Calamagrostis epigejos''). Larvae also feed on various '' Poaceae'', '' Phalaris arundinacea'', ''

Alopecurus pratensis ''Alopecurus pratensis'', known as the meadow foxtail or the field meadow foxtail, is a perennial grass belonging to the grass family (Poaceae). It is native to Europe and Asia. This common plant is found on grasslands, especially on neutral so ...

'', ''

Calamagrostis purpurea ''Calamagrostis purpurea'' is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. Its native range is Subarctic and Subalpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem ...

'', ''

Deschampsia flexuosa ''Deschampsia flexuosa'', commonly known as wavy hair-grass, is a species of bunchgrass in the grass family widely distributed in Eurasia, Africa, South America, and North America. Description Wavy hair-grass, ''Deschampsia flexuosa'', has wi ...

'', '' Phragmites communis'' and ''

Elymus caninus ''Elymus caninus'', the bearded couch or bearded wheatgrass, is a species of flowering plant in the family Poaceae that is native to Europe including the UK but can be found introduced in the United States, US states of Oregon and Washington (sta ...

''., but also on ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on e ...

'', ''

Triticum Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

'', '' Dactylis glomerata'', ''

Molinia ''Molinia'', or moor grass, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the grass family, native to damp moorland in Eurasia and northern Africa. They are both herbaceous perennial grasses. The genus is named after Juan Ignacio Molina, a ...

'', ''

Holcus lanatus ''Holcus lanatus'' is a perennial grass. The specific epithet ' is Latin for 'woolly' which describes the plant's hairy texture. Common names include Yorkshire fog, tufted grass, and meadow soft grass. In North America, where it is an invasive ...

'', ''

Luzula ''Luzula'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rush family Juncaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species occurring throughout the world, especially in temperate regions, the Arctic, and higher elevation areas in the trop ...

'', etc. On hatching the larvae construct a shelter in the usual skipper method of curling a leaf up with silk and begins to feed. It

hibernate Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...

s as a half-grown caterpillar and emerges in the spring to continue feeding and growing. Pupation lasts about three weeks during May and June and the adults are present from June to August. It is the first of the grass skippers to emerge in the UK. It is an active butterfly in sunny weather, it is attracted to various flowers but has a distinct liking for bramble flowers.

Gallery

File:Ochlodes sylvanus, caterpillar.JPG, Caterpillar File:Large skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus) male underside.jpg, Male, underside File:Large skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus) ab. no chequered marks.jpg, Aberration
no chequered marks File:Large skippers (Ochlodes sylvanus) mating.jpg, Mating

Citations

References

* *Jim Asher ''et al.'' ''The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies of Britain and Ireland''. Oxford University Press.

External links

UK Butterflies

Euro ButterfliesLarge skipper page
fro
Natural History Collections of the University of Edinburgh
* Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfil

* ttp://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Ochlodes_Sylvanus Lepiforum.de
Butterfly Conservation Armenia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q934570 Ochlodes Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1777

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

Description

Life cycle and foodplants

Gallery

See also

Citations

References

External links