The small skipper (''Thymelicus sylvestris'') is a

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 ...

of 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 ...

Appearance

It has a rusty orange colour to the wings, upper body, and the tips of the antennae. The body is silvery white below, and it has a wingspan of 25–30 mm. This butterfly is very similar in appearance to the

Essex skipper __NOTOC__ ''Thymelicus lineola'', known in Europe as the Essex skipper and in North America as the European skipper, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. With a wingspan of 2.5 to 2.9 cm, it is very similar in appearance to ...

(''Thymelicus lineola''). In the small skipper, the undersides of the tips of the antennae are yellow orange, whereas they are black in the Essex skipper. The black area on the lower edge of the upper wings also differs. Like the other orange

grass skippers Grass skippers or banded skippers are butterflies of the subfamily Hesperiinae, part of the skipper family, Hesperiidae. The subfamily was established by Pierre André Latreille in 1809. Description and distribution With over 2,000 described sp ...

, the male has a distinctive black stripe made up of scent scales. (MHNT) Thymelicus sylvestris - Foret de Bouconne, France - male dorsal.jpg, '' Thymelicus sylvestris'' ♂ (MHNT) Thymelicus sylvestris - Foret de Bouconne, France - male ventral.jpg, ♂ △

Distribution

This butterfly's range includes much of Europe (east to the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

, including

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

and Scandinavia), north

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. It is typically occurring where grass has grown tall.

Life cycle and food plants

Eggs are laid loosely inside grass sheaths of the

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 food plants from July to August. The newly hatched caterpillars eat their own eggshell before entering hibernation individually in a protective cocoon of a grass sheath sealed with

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

. In the spring the caterpillar begins feeding. The favoured food plant is Yorkshire fog (''Holcus lanatus''), although other recorded food plants include

timothy Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek language, Greek name (Timotheus (disambiguation), Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries ...

(''Phleum pratense''), creeping soft grass (''Holcus mollis''),

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''),

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'') and cock's foot (''Dactylis glomerata''). The caterpillars pupate near the base of the food plant in June with the first adults on the wing at the end of June, a week or two before the first Essex skippers. They are strongly attracted to purple flowers such as

thistles Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...

and knapweeds. Image:Thymelicus sylvestriseggs.jpg, Eggs Image:The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths BHL41107841.jpg , figs 3, 3a, 3b larvae after last moult;3c pupa Image:Braunkolbiger Braun-Dickkopffalter01.jpg, Small skipper
(Germany 2009)

References

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

External links

* *
Butterfly Conservation

BBC Science & Nature

Lepiforum.de

UK Butterflies

Butterfly Conservation Armenia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q901535 Thymelicus Butterflies described in 1761 Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Taxa named by Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus