Lulworth skipper S. A. von Rottemburg in 1775. The butterfly was first discovered in Britain on 15 August 1832, when specimens were taken from Lulworth Cove in Dorset by English naturalist James Charles Dale It was introduced the following year as the Lulworth skipper ("Thymelicus acteon"), a name that has remained unchanged; it is the only one of Britain's vernacular butterfly names for which there has never been a proposed substitute. The male Lulworth skipper has a wingspan of , and the female 25 to 28 mm. This makes it one of Britain's smallest butterflies and, in Europe, the smallest member of
Lulworth Cove Lulworth Estate, an estate held by the Welds wealthy landowning family. Land to the east is owned by the Ministry of Defence and used for tank training, only open on weekends and holidays. The coast and land to the north and around the village is owned and managed by the Lulworth Estate (see Lulworth Castle). Each year, over 250,000 people walk across the hill linking the cove to Durdle Door. Stair Hole, less than half a mile west is an infant cove which suggests what Lulworth Cove would have looked like a few hundred thousand years ago. The sea has