Otep's Debut Season Challenges

[Chris L]

I seem to have been putting my many novice identification challenges on other threads like some sort of forum cuckoo. I have decided to put them all in one place and I hope that nobody minds.

I was challenged a few times today. I would be really grateful for your help as ever.

Exhibit A

What is this sad, ragged, worn little character? I am going to have a wild stab at a female Common Blue that has suffered at the hands of the weather, brambles and amorous males.

[Wurzel]

Worn butterflies often form conundrums Otep they're one of the pitfalls - still coul be worse it could be a female Smesse I would probably go with your initial thought of female Common Blue as it has a cell spot on the underside fore wing and I can't see the remnants of any chequers on the wing margins that would make it a female Adonis

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Chris L]

Thank you Wurzel, much appreciated.

Exhibit B

Skippers are new to me and I really like seeing them but they prove really challenging to identify. A week ago I was seeing Large Skippers and my first Skipper that I saw today seemed smaller. I was fortunate in that it sat up for a photo. Looking back at my photo I see orange antenna here. Have I seen my first ever Small Skipper? I hope so !

[David M]

Yes. 100%.

[Chris L]

Wow ! Fantastic news. My first ever Small Skipper. Thank you David. That has really made my day. I have a huge smile on my face right now which is a mixture of seeing a new species for the first time ever and also the fact that I identified it correctly too. That is a confidence boost too as I feel quite inadequate around Skippers.

Exhibit C

A little further along I saw another Skipper which again seemed smaller and I think this might be a Small Skipper too. Is that so?

[David M]

Yup. Sure is. The giveaway with the males is the curved androconial band on the forewing. In Essex Skipper this is smaller and straight, hence the name lineola.

[Chris L]

Thank you David. That is an interesting tip about identifying an Essex Skipper. I shall remember that.

I take it the next 3 are all Small Skippers?

Exhibit D



Exhibit E



Exhibit F

[bugboy]

Ahh you were doing so well Otep, that final one is a Large Skipper, note the faint mottling which neither Small nor Essex posses. The other two are most definitely Small Skippers though

[Chris L]

Ha, fell at the last hurdle. Thanks Bugboy, much appreciated. I got 5 out of 6 though and that gives me an 83% on my exam paper today.

[David M]

Not sure if you get Essex Skippers round your way, Otep, but if you do then that's probably the trickiest challenge in UK butterflying, separating them from Small Skippers.

[BarrieS]

Essex Skippers are present in South Derbyshire, but in much smaller numbers that Small Skippers. A few years ago we spent an afternoon at Foremark Res (Carver's Rocks end) and checked many 'small' skippers. We found about one in fifty were Essex. I would suggest they are a little more common now, but still nowhere near the level of Small. They also emerge a little later the Small here. I always take my reading glasses with me so I can get a good look at the antenna.

[Chris L]

Breathes sigh of relief at the Essex Skipper news. Thank you both. I will gladly welcome seeing them but if they could turn up in my second season and give this one a miss that would be much appreciated.

[MikeOxon]

Good luck with the Essex, Otep. I still hesitate over the identification of some of mine. You really do need to get underneath for the antenna test but, if they're males, it's much easier

[Chris L]

What on earth is this? If it is until now an undiscovered species of moth and in turn I get to name it I shall call it a Voodoo Mask Moth.

[bugboy]

Unfortunately it's a well known summer migrant moth called a Silver-y

[Chris L]

Thanks Bugboy. I think I prefer my name for it.

[David M]

Thanks Bugboy. I think I prefer my name for it.

Yes, I see what you mean, Otep. The pattern looks quite sinister when the butterfly is posing face down.

[Chris L]

I decided today to go and try and find some new species today and this involved a bit of travelling. It was all very exciting for me but there was a sense of trepidation too. I am still a total amateur. Would I be able to identify species that are new to me? Would I have to take a photo and rely upon the good folk here? Would butterflies settle and even let me take a photo? Why did I leave my butterfly identification cards at home?

As I arrived at my Worcestershire destination I thought that perhaps I wouldn't see anything other than the characters I see at home anyway. After many Meadow Browns and Ringlets in the first few minutes...

Boom ! A Marbled White flew by at great speed and disappeared over a hedge. I was so incredibly happy to see it. My first ever. Easy to identify.

Boom ! A Silver Washed Fritillary. My first ever. I was in awe. It was huge. So beautiful. I even got a photo (wings closed). Easy to identify.

Boom ! A Wood White. My first ever. A dainty little character. It flew off about 5 times just as I was about to take a photo. Easy to identify.

Boom ! A White Admiral flew at speed over my head and disappeared. Fleeting but unmistakeable. Easy to identify.

(I only saw one Wood White and one White Admiral all day).

This was a piece of cake. Four new species (to me) and identification was easy. I felt like I had graduated. Even the appearance of a lemon coloured Brimstone Moth did not faze me - though I did chase after it excitedly thinking it might be a Clouded Yellow.

Pride comes before a fall and I was brought back to earth with a bump and I put my L plates back on. What on earth is this? I am no stranger to Speckled Woods and from the outside it really looks like one. However, flying about it was so incredibly pale, chequered and the lighter colourings were sort of caramel coloured. Just my luck it never opened its wings once when settled. I did not see a single Speckled Wood in the 300 I saw today (unless this is one).

[bugboy]

yup, that is a speckled Wood. They do vary a fair bit (go to the south of Europe and you won't recognise them!) but the theme is always the same. They tend to get darker as the season progresses to keep up with shadier woodlands but I myself came across a rather pale specimen the other day.

[Chris L]

yup, that is a speckled Wood. They do vary a fair bit (go to the south of Europe and you won't recognise them!) but the theme is always the same. They tend to get darker as the season progresses to keep up with shadier woodlands but I myself came across a rather pale specimen the other day.

Thank you Bugboy. Yes, sadly it is undeniably a Speckled Wood isn't it. Being greedy racking up new species as I was yesterday, I had hoped whilst in the field yesterday that this might be another. Only studying photos when I got home revealed the likely truth.

With its wings open it looked absolutely nothing like one. I have never seen one that light before. Maybe it was a pale specimen as you wrote and also an aberrant too.

Wings shut whilst resting was an oddity for me too. Speckled Woods in South Derbyshire always sit with wings open. I have seen countless and not once have I encountered one wings shut.