id confirmation for two butterflies please

[ashgale]

confirmation or correction of id appreciated for these two please,

the first one is, i think a Ringlet butterfly, there were dozens of these alongside woodland edges today, (i had to follow this one for about ten minutes before it finally settled for a few seconds !)



the second one is (i hope) a male small skipper, this one was very plentiful on grass/heathlands today, and was a more willing subject than the ringlet



thanks, ashgale.

[Jason Claxton]

Hi Ashgale

Yes a Ringlet for the first.The second is either a Small or an Essex Skipper.I'd like to see the fronts of the very tips of the antennae if I could,they are black in Essex and brown/orange in Small.

Cheers Jason.

[ashgale]

Originally Posted by Jason Claxton

Hi Ashgale

Yes a Ringlet for the first.The second is either a Small or an Essex Skipper.I'd like to see the fronts of the very tips of the antennae if I could,they are black in Essex and brown/orange in Small.

Cheers Jason.

Hi Jason,
thanks for the quick reply, im afraid i only got two shots of the Skipper, both of much the same position, so not much help there

i shall have to try and get some more pics next time i'm out and see if i can see the antennae tips in detail,
am i right in thinking that the two black bars on the wings are only found on the males ?

thanks, ashgale

[Jason Claxton]

You're Welcome Ashgale.

Yes the ones with the small black bars, are the males ,this is the sex brand.

[aeshna5]

The second is a male Small Skipper- identified by the longer, curved sex brand on the fore-wing.

[ashgale]

i went back today to try and get some better pics of the small skipper,
but although there were even more ringlet's around than the previous visit,



i only spotted one skipper, which quickly flew off , so i only got this one picture of it, at the time i thought was a female of the same species, but looking in the a-z of butterflies, and comparing the two pics, i thought it looked more like the large skipper pictured there ?



thanks, ashgale.

[Jason Claxton]

Hi Ashgale

It is a female Large Skipper.

Cheers Jason

[ashgale]

Hi Jason,
thanks for the id, if it were not for the butterfly a-z i would have just assumed it was another small skipper and been non the wiser
having always had an interest in all wildlife, it was not until i found W.A.B that i have been able to put names to many of the things i find (even the commonest ones )
i also spotted several very bright and fresh looking Comma's (thats one of the few i could name without W.A.B ) and thanks to the a-z again, lots of Gatekeeper butterflies, which oddly enough were all close to a couple of gates at either end of the track !


thanks again, ashgale.