Lulworth skipper form discrete colonies, with the largest containing up to 100,000 individuals. In the novel "The Return of the Native", by Thomas Hardy, a possible reference is made to Lulworth skippers in the "strange amber-coloured butterflies" which "were never seen elsewhere." Lulworth skipper The Lulworth skipper ("Thymelicus acteon") is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Its name is derived from Lulworth Cove in the county of Dorset, England, where the first specimens in Great Britain were collected in 1832 by English naturalist James Charles Dale. The species occurs locally across Central Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa, where its population is
Lulworth skipper between Weymouth and Swanage and on the Purbeck Ridge, a line of inland chalk hills. Two outlying colonies also exist, at Burton Bradstock and on the Isle of Portland; the cause of the colony on Portland is unknown, but has been put down to either natural colonisation or released specimens. There is evidence to suggest that the Lulworth skipper is now more abundant in Dorset than at any other time since its discovery in 1832. Although colonies of Lulworth skippers existed in Devon, the species has, beyond single records, not be seen in the county since the 1930s. Similarly, records