__NOTOC__ ''Thymelicus lineola'', known in Europe as the Essex skipper and in North America as the European skipper, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea, but have since been placed in the superfamily Papilion ...

. With a wingspan of 2.5 to 2.9 cm, it is very similar in appearance to the small skipper, ''Thymelicus sylvestris''. They can be told apart by the forward-facing flattish part of the antenna tip: in the Essex Skipper this face is black, whereas in the Small Skipper it is orange or brown. In males, there is a difference in the scent mark. In Essex Skipper this is a fine, straight, short dark line on the forewing, parallel to the wing edge; in the Small Skipper males, this line is bolder and bent. This butterfly occurs throughout much of the

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

region. Its range is from southern

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

through Europe to North Africa and east to Central Asia. It was only identified in the UK in 1889, and its range is expanding both in England and in northern Europe. In North America, this butterfly was accidentally introduced in 1910 via

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

and has spread across southern Canada and into several northern US states. In many parts of the Northeastern United States it is the most abundant skipper. Thymelicus lineola underside - Keila.jpg, Note the black part of the antenna tip (MHNT) Thymelicus lineola - St Foy d'Aigrefeuille - France - male dorsal.jpg, ''Thymelicus lineola'' ♂ (MHNT) Thymelicus lineola - St Foy d'Aigrefeuille - France - male ventral.jpg, ♂ △ (MHNT) Thymelicus lineola - St Foy d'Aigrefeuille - France - female dorsal.jpg, ♀ (MHNT) Thymelicus lineola - St Foy d'Aigrefeuille - France - female ventral.jpg, ♀ △

Life cycle

Eggs are laid in strings on the stems of grasses where they remain over the winter. The Essex skipper's favoured foodplant is

cock's-foot ''Dactylis'' is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the Pooideae, bluegrass subfamily within the Poaceae, grass family. ''Dactylis'' is native to North Africa, they are found throughout the world, and are an invasive species. They ar ...

(''Dactylis glomerata''), and it rarely uses the small skipper's favoured foodplant Yorkshire fog. Essex skippers' other foods include creeping soft grass (''Holcus mollis''), couch grass (''Elymus repens''),

timothy-grass Timothy (''Phleum pratense'') is an abundant perennial grass native to most of Europe except for the Mediterranean region. It is also known as timothy-grass, meadow cat's-tail or common cat's tail. It is a member of the genus '' Phleum'', cons ...

(''Phleum pratense''),

meadow foxtail ''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 ...

(''Alopecurus pratensis''),

false brome ''Brachypodium sylvaticum'', commonly known as false-brome, slender false brome or wood false brome, is a perennial grass native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Its native range includes most of Europe, northwestern Africa, Sudan and Eritrea, Wester ...

(''Brachypodium sylvaticum'') and tor-grass (''Brachypodium pinnatum''). This skipper's

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

s emerge in the spring and feed until June before forming shelters from leaves tied with silk at the base of the foodplant to pupate. Adults fly from July through August. Like most skippers, they are fairly strictly diurnal, though individuals are very rarely encountered during the night. (2001): Diel flight periodicity and the evolution of auditory defences in the Macrolepidoptera. ''Animal Behaviour'' 62(2): 349–368
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This skipper's oval eggs are pale greenish-yellow, flattened above and below with slightly depressed tops. Caterpillars are green, with yellowish incisions between their rings; each with a dorsal, darker green stripe and yellow lateral lines. A larva's head is pale brown striped with darker brown. Their elongate chrysalids are yellowish-green, and each has a dark dorsal stripe seen in caterpillars.

References

* : ''The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies of Britain and Ireland'' Oxford University Press

External links

Butterflies and Moths of North AmericaLepiforum.deUK ButterfliesButterfly Conservation Armenia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q778932 Thymelicus Butterflies of Europe Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1808 Taxa named by Ferdinand Ochsenheimer

Life cycle

See also

References

External links