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Matt Berry sent me this photo of a "Skipper" but I'm not sure if it's Essex or Small. Although the antennae don't show their undersides, they do look as if their ends have been dipped in a tin of black paint - therefore I've gone for Essex. Comments?



Regards,

- Pete

I agree Essex skipper

The antennae do look good, so I'd go for Essex too. Although I've yet to see an Essex, another ID feature I believe, is that Small Skipper has a pale buff tip to the outer underwing as can be seen in my photo below.

A picture of Small Skipper antennae can also be seen HERE

Great photo of the Essex by the way.

Regards,

Karl.

Now you know why I didn't name it when I sent the file to you!

Though I did suspect it was Essex, honest!

Matt

Hate to disagree with you chaps, but I reckon it's a Small Skipper. On Essex the undersides of the antennae have very black tips. It looks to me from the photo that the black does not cover the underside tips of the antennae. There is a great deal of variation in the appearance of the antennae in Small Skippers - in some specimens the tips are dark red whilst in others they are black, but only in the Essex does the black extend to the underside of the antennae tips.

Adrian Hoskins

Please can someone have ago at confirming which mine is? I guess from Adrian's post that it's a small because the black doesn't appear to extend under the tips. I've got 4 more piccies but I think this one shows the tips best.

I knew I should have followed the advice in my butterfly identification book - don't be afraid to crawl on your hands and knees to get a definate ID of the undersides of the tips!

Many thanks,

Deborah Clark
West Sussex

Hi Deborah,

This actually looks like a male Large Skipper to me, due to the patterns on both forewings and hindwings. Small and Essex Skippers are a uniform brown on all wings, apart from the sex brand on the forewings of the males.

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks for that Pete, I've just checked my ID book and I don't think I would have realised it was a large as both seem to have the sex marks on the forewings.

I'm now attaching a piccie of the outside wings (sorry, don't know the correct name, must read my book more.........); just to double check, I think you're right though, please can you confirm if you still think it's the large?

Dearie me, it's called large and it's the smallest butterfly I've ever seen!

Many thanks,

Deborah

Hi Deborah,

We call this a shot of the "underside"

And yes, I still think it's a Large Skipper. Of course, "Large" is a relative term. Compared to a Small Blue (our smallest British butterfly), it's absolutely huge, and compared to a Small Tortoiseshell, it's tiny

Cheers,

- Pete

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the first year I've owned a digital camera, no more 'unknowns' in my butterfly listings anymore!

Super-quick help too, triple thanks!

Deborah