Essex Skipper ID please

[sahikmet]

The pictures were taken on 28Th July at Mill Hill Sussex. Both same skipper. The antenna tips jet black with black along the length of antenna. Is this a Essex Skipper please? Cheers Sezar

[David M]

It's actually hard to tell from that shot.

The defining feature is the UNDERSIDE of the antennal tips, which are sadly invisible here.

To compound matters, you have on film a female, so the abbreviated sex brands of the male Essex are not evident either.

My hunch here is that it still coould be Small Skipper as there is a hint of sandy brown on the underside of the antennae, though I favour Essex slightly. I doubt if anyone (Guy Padfield included) could state with 100% certainty that this is Essex.

[Padfield]

I won't claim 100% for fear of contradicting you David, but that's a male and it's Essex!

The abdominal end indicates it is a male - and then if you look carefully you will see there is a short, straight sex brand that doesn't cross the vein.

How about 99%?

Guy

[sahikmet]

My thanks to both of you. Unfartunatly managed only two pictures. Same day did photo many small skippers under same conditions but these two look so different. Cheers Sezar

[David M]

Guy, you have eyes like the proverbial s**thouse rat. I still can't see a sex brand and I've blown the pictures up and compared them with my Jeremy Thomas tome.

[Padfield]

We need a third opinion, then! But that Basil Brush tail can only belong to a male - and in the second picture I really can see the sex brand...

Guy

[Nick Broomer]

I agree with Guy, after scrutinizing both pictures i can see a sex brand in each picture. In the case of a s.skipper the sex brand is bold and curved, but with the e. skipper the sex brand is straight and thin.

Nick.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Sezar,
That's a male Essex Skipper. The short, straight sex brand parallel to the leading wing margin is diagnostic. I'll top Guy's 99% with an additional 1%. To be fair to David it's hardly the best-defined sex brand I've ever seen! But squint and it's there - and this is definitely a male butterfly.
Neil

[David M]

I'm off to the optician tomorrow!

[sahikmet]

Thanks to you all, looking at the original high quality raw piture I can just make out the details of sex brand. Cheers Sezar