Large Skipper

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Large Skipper - Ochlodes venata.jpg
Scientific Name: 
Ochlodes sylvanus
Wingspan: 
Male: 29 - 34mm, Female: 31 - 36mm
Description: 

Upperwings dark brown and orange brown with pale markings. Underwings buffush orange with paler spots.

Distribution: 

The Large Skipper is widespread in Southern Britain and its range has extended northwards into North-East England since the 1960s.

Habitat: 

The Large Skipper butterfly favours grassy areas, where foodplants grow in sheltered, often damp, situations and remain tall and uncut. It is found in a wide variety of habitats where there are shrubs, tall herbs, and grasses, for example woodland rides and clearings, pastures, roadside verges, hedgerows, and wet heathland. It is also a species of urban habitats, occurring in parks, churchyards, and other places with long grasses.

Diet: 
<p> Cock's-foot and occasionally Purple Moor-grass and False Broome are used. Females have been observed laying eggs on Tor-grass and Wood Small-reed </p>
Status: 
  • UK Biodiversity Action Plan: not listed
  • Butterfly Conservation priority: low
  • European threat status: not threatened