Large or Small Skipper?

[glsammy]

I can't make my mind up on this one, is it a Large or Small Skipper?

[C C]

Those dreaded skippers!! that one looks close to an Essex.

[Ollie]

Well I'm far from any expert Graham but I would say small as I can't see any hooked tip to the antennae and the wing pattern looks fairly uniform rather than patterned or shaded. I'm sticking my neck out here and will no doubt be proved wrong.
Roger

[Cazzie]

So all large skippers regardless of wing colouration have the little hooks on the ends of their antenna right? I've got a few pic's of skippers that I'm not too sure of as well

That's a stunning piccy Graham!

[GuyF]

Roger's correct, it's a Small Skipper, unless you were in an area where Essex Skippers occur, then we might need to look more closely at those antenna.
Guy

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by GuyF

Roger's correct, it's a Small Skipper, unless you were in an area where Essex Skippers occur, then we might need to look more closely at those antenna.
Guy

Ah, there's the rub! Where are Essex located? The online info I can find state their range is widening all the time, and can now be found in the Midlands. Well, this was in the Midlands!

I'm not for a second suggesting it's an Essex.
One point, Have you seen the Essex images on UK Butterflies? at: UK Butterflies - Essex Skipper - Thymelicus lineola
Their Male doesn't look like an Essex to me! I can clearly see brown at the tip end. So the saga of identification goes on!

[GuyF]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Ah, there's the rub! Where are Essex located? The online info I can find state their range is widening all the time, and can now be found in the Midlands. Well, this was in the Midlands!

I'm not for a second suggesting it's an Essex.
One point, Have you seen the Essex images on UK Butterflies? at: UK Butterflies - Essex Skipper - Thymelicus lineola
Their Male doesn't look like an Essex to me! I can clearly see brown at the tip end. So the saga of identification goes on!

I see what you mean about the UK Butterflies Skipper, but I don't think I'll try questioning them
From blowing up you picture larger, the tips of the antenna seem to be pure black although it's always a tough call. Did you get any other shots showing more of the underside of the antenna?
Guy

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by GuyF

I see what you mean about the UK Butterflies Skipper, but I don't think I'll try questioning them
From blowing up you picture larger, the tips of the antenna seem to be pure black although it's always a tough call. Did you get any other shots showing more of the underside of the antenna?
Guy

Yep, and that's why I'm not saying it's an Essex.

Here it is:





Not sure what's happened to the colour balance on these two shots one of them is way off!

[widgeon0]

Definately not Large Skipper the wing pattern on L.Skipper shows thru from belowand no pattern is visible in this image.Could well be Essex Skipper though.