Lulworth skipper their greatest since its discovery there. With a wingspan of 24 to 28 millimetres, females being larger than males, the Lulworth skipper is a small butterfly, the smallest member of the genus "Thymelicus" in Europe and among the smallest butterflies in Britain. Aside from the size difference, the sexes are distinguished by females having a distinct circle of golden marks on each forewing. Due to their likeness to the rays around the eye of a peacock's feather, these are often known as "sun-ray" markings, and they can faintly appear on males. The Lulworth skipper was first described by German entomologist
Spencer Skipper Spencer Skipper Spencer John Skipper (c. 1848 – September 1903) was a journalist in South Australia who wrote and drew using the pseudonym "Hugh Kalyptus". Skipper was born in South Australia a son of solicitor and artist John Michael Skipper (18 June 1815 – 7 December 1883) and his wife Frances Amelia Skipper, née Thomas (c. 1818 – 27 February 1855), whose father was Robert Thomas, founding editor of the South Australian Register. His father emigrated to South Australia aboard "Africaine" and around January 1837 painted the scene of the Proclamation, to which he had been a witness. It shows