Essex skipper Essex skipper The Essex skipper ("Thymelicus lineola") is a butterfly in family Hesperiidae. In North America, it is known as the European skipper. With a wingspan of 2.5 to 2.9 cm, it is very similar in appearance to the small skipper "Thymelicus sylvestris". They can be told apart by the undersides of the tips of their antennae: the Essex skipper's antennae are black, whereas those of the small skipper are orange. This butterfly occurs throughout much of the Palaearctic region. Its range is from southern Scandinavia through Europe to North Africa and east to Central Asia It was only identified
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