Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Lulworth Skipper Butterfly
Scientific Name:
Thymelicus acteon
Wingspan (mm):
Male 24-27mm, female 25-28mm Description
Dull orange-brown wings held with forewings above hind wings. Males have black line through centre of fore-wing while females has pale spots on forewing. Darker than Small and Essex Skipper, neither of which has ray of pale spots. The females can be distinguished from other skippers by the pale orange 'sun-ray' markings on their forewings whereas the males have darker-brown, almost olive coloured wings.
Distribution
Mostly Dorset, but also Devon and Cornwall.
Habitat
The main habitats are unfertilized calcareous grasslands, including chalk downland, coastal grassland, and undercliffs. The butterfly also occasionally uses grasslands on calcareous clays, or even road verges where chalk or limestone ballast has been used in construction. Females prefer to lay eggs on tall foodplants (30-50 cm), and only rarely select patches 10-30 cm tall (never patches under 10 cm). Most colonies are on south-facing slopes and grasslands sheltered from onshore winds.
Diet
The butterfly breeds on tall patches of Tor-grass.
Status
UK BAP status: Priority Species Butterfly Conservation priority: high European threat status: vulnerable Protected in Great Britain for sale only