Is this an Essex Skipper?
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 9:07 am
We found this skipper yesterday in the Brockadale Nature Reserve in South Yorkshire (Magnesian Limestone grassland). It is clearly an aged specimen so late in the year, and the flight period graphs on your site would suggest that Small Skipper is virtually never seen so late, whilst Essex can be. The tips of the antennae are certainly dark, but I am in 2 minds as to whether they are faded orange/brown, or faded glossy black! The upper surface is similarly inconclusive.
We have never seen Essex Skipper at Brockadale before, but have been watching out for it as it is moving north. I have found it less than 20 miles away at Lindholme on Hatfield Moor and at Tickhill (south of Doncaster) this year, in both cases extending the known range slightly further west and north than previous records.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Paul Simmons
We have never seen Essex Skipper at Brockadale before, but have been watching out for it as it is moving north. I have found it less than 20 miles away at Lindholme on Hatfield Moor and at Tickhill (south of Doncaster) this year, in both cases extending the known range slightly further west and north than previous records.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Paul Simmons