Lulworth skipper of occurrences exist for Cornwall, but they have not been verified as native colonies. Habitats are primarily on unfertilised calcareous grassland; this includes chalk download, coastal grassland and undercliffs in Britain. In all of these habits Tor-grass ("Illustration 2"), the butterfly's sole food plant and that on which it lays eggs, is widespread. Tall, ungrazed grass is a favoured habitat due to oviposition and larval development; Lulworth skippers have benefited from the move away from tight grazing by sheep in the last century and recently outbreaks of myxomatosis among rabbit populations, which otherwise maintain a lower grass height. However, there
Lulworth skipper the "Thymelicus" genus. Of Britain's five "golden" skippers—the others being the silver-spotted skipper ("Hesperia comma"), large skipper ("Ochlodes sylvanus"), small skipper ("Thymelicus sylvestris") and Essex skipper ("Thymelicus lineola")—the Lulworth is both the smallest and darkest. Beyond its small size, it is distinguished particularly by its dark, dun-coloured wings that appear with tinges of olive-brown; this darkening especially apparent in males. Variations are known to occur; in north-west Africa, the uppersides of the forewing and hindwing are darker, with hints of greenish or greyish brown. Similarly-coloured races occur in Spain, Elba, Crete, and other eastern Mediterranean islands. "T. acteon christi", endemic