Essex skipper,or perhaps a Small skipper?

[Deano]

Hello all
Please could someone confirm the identity of my attachment - Essex or Small skipper? I'm going with the former.
Many thanks
Deano.

[rolf]

I have a similar question Deano, hope you don't mind me tagging onto your thread, as mine would have the identical title.

I spotted two Skippers at Moore Copse Tidmarsh and they are slightly different as seen below. I have larger shots if needed.

skipper_butterfly.jpg (29.02 KiB) Viewed 717 times

small_skipper.jpg (31 KiB) Viewed 717 times

[Pete Eeles]

Hello all
Please could someone confirm the identity of my attachment - Essex or Small skipper? I'm going with the former.
Many thanks
Deano.

Hi Deano - based on the length and slight angle of the sex brand, I'd go with Small Skipper. Willing to be corrected though

Cheers,

- Pete

[Pete Eeles]

I have a similar question Deano, hope you don't mind me tagging onto your thread, as mine would have the identical title.

I spotted two Skippers at Moore Copse Tidmarsh and they are slightly different as seen below. I have larger shots if needed.

skipper_butterfly.jpg

small_skipper.jpg

I'd go with Essex for the first (the antennae look very "Essex" to me ), and Small for the second.

Cheers,

- Pete

[rolf]

Thanks Pete.

Expect more requests in the future, as this is a newly acquired interest for me and some of the differences are so small as to be near indistinguishable to the untrained eye.

Rolf

[Deano]

Thanks Pete,and thanks Rolf as well.
Isn't it amazing how these two skippers cause so much confusion over their identity - I've struggled for years to be certain,yet sometimes I see a specimen which is so obviously one or the other! The weird and wonderful world of lepidoptera hey!
Thanks again
Deano

[drglap]

Any ideas on my skipper?

[Pete Eeles]

Hmmm. This is quite a tricky one but based on:

1. The angle of the sex brand (parallel with the leading edge of the forewing), and

2. The diffusion of the dark line on the wing tip ...

I'd go for Essex. If the critter wasn't so hairy, I'd be more certain - since the sex brand is shorter in the Essex Skipper, and we could also see whether it "went off at an angle" toward the body.

Cheers,

- Pete

[drglap]

Thanks Pete.
Could you tell me a bit more about the wing tip diffusion difference between the two skippers as I'm finding that I need something other than antenna & sex brands for pictures like the one above and this one (same time and place - Old Winchester Hill July 27th). It looks the same as the previous one albeit female and at a different angle also inconclusive for the antenna.

[Pete Eeles]

Thanks Pete.
Could you tell me a bit more about the wing tip diffusion difference between the two skippers as I'm finding that I need something other than antenna & sex brands for pictures like the one above and this one (same time and place - Old Winchester Hill July 27th). It looks the same as the previous one albeit female and at a different angle also inconclusive for the antenna.

The diffuse black border can be very subtle - but in the pic below of a male Essex Skipper, taken in Italy (where this diagnostic may be more prominent than in the UK), the diffusion is clear to see.

IMG_1678.jpg (28.48 KiB) Viewed 466 times

Cheers,

- Pete