Trouble with a Skipper

[Devs2007]

Hi,
Would anyone be able to confirm, for this beginnner, that I've got these right. All taken on a visit to Amberley, West Sussex.....

Comma


Gatekeeper


Ringlet


....and the Skipper, not sure if it's a large or small. How would I tell without the other to compare it to?


Thanks for any assistance.

[Andrew Cunningham]

First three are correct.

I reckon the skipper is a Small Skipper but never actually seen one so hopefully someone with more experience will come along and comment.

[COLIN BAKER]

Would tend to agree, its a Small Skipper.
The Outer margin on the forewing (LH side of photo)tends to be black and not diffused which says its not an Essex Skipper also the antenna is not as dipped in black paint which backs this up.
The sex band also on the forewing can just be seen as thin and not as the Large Skipper which is thick and black.
Two other markins to differentiate from Large Skipper is the lack of faint spots on the underside and colouration of orange, as opposed to orange near the abdomen and browner towards the outer edges of the forewing, in the Large Skipper.
Bit of a mouthful but hope it helps.
Best to look at specimen photos on:-
http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... %20Skipper
http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... %20Skipper &
http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... %20Skipper

Cheers

Colin

[Guest]

Thanks gents. Very useful pointers, I'll bear them in mind for the future. I suppose it'll help to get out there and find me a Large Skipper !
Thanks again.

[Andrew Cunningham]

Thanks for that summary Colin.

[Guest]

How big is Essex skipper in comparison to the small and large skipper?

Thanks regards Dave

[eccles]

The essex is similar in size to the small.
Further idents I think are:
When at rest, skippers often tuck the forewing back so the rear wing is in front. There's a thick black/dark brown leading edge to this rear wing on the small, and this leading edge is diffuse/broken on the essex. This shows up quite well on the UK Butterflies image pages.
The male sex brand marks on the forewings are much less prominent on the essex. Obviously not much use if you have a female.

[Guest]

Thanks eccles.
I believe all 3 are in my area. So I need to keep an eye out to get them ID correctly.