Hesperiidae. Eight resident species of Skipper butterflies. One European, absent from Britain (A)

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Common Name Latin Name Food plant(s) Description
Chequered Skipper   Carterocephalus palaemon   Purple moor-grass, false-brome and tor-grass   Whitish-green, striped darker green and white. Western Scotland
Small Skipper   Thymelicus sylvestris   False-brome, Yorkshire-fog, creeping soft-grass and timothy.   Grass-green, whitish-green lines, darker green dorsal line, posterior segments are yellowish-green. Widely distributed and often common over most of Wales and in England
Essex Skipper   Thymelicus lineola   Cock's-foot and other species of grass   Grass-green, whitish-green lines, similar to above. Southern and Eastern England.
Lulworth Skipper   Thymelicus acteon   Tor-grass   Green, darker bluish-green lines along the dorsal which are edged with yellow-whitish streaks. Restricted to the coasts of Dorset, South Devon and Cornwall
Silver-spotted Skipper   Hesperia comma   Sheep's fecsue   Dull greyish-olive and grub-like. South-eastern England
Large Skipper   Ochlodes venata   Cock's-foot, false-brome and other grasses   Dark bluish-green, covered in short brown bristles, dark green dorsal line. Distributed throughout most of England
Dingy Skipper   Erynnis tages   greater and Bird'sfoot trefoil, horseshoe vetch.   Dull yellowish-green, whitish hairs, spiracles reddish-brown. England and Wales, more local in Scotland and Ireland
Grizzled Skipper   Pyrgus malvae   Wild strawberry, silverweed, creeping cinquefoil and tormentil.   Light greenish-yellow covered with short fine whitish bristles. Distributed on downs and wasteland over central and southern England, more local in south-western counties, Wales and East Anglia.
Mallow Skipper   Carcharodus alceae   Mallows A Stout and tapered, greyish-green tinged with blue, banded with black and yellow, yellow spiracles. Central and southern Europe.