I like insects that are a bit of a fieldwork challenge, and Essex Skippers are one of those. The Essex Skipper is a small butterfly with golden wings. As other skippers, they are fast flyers and like to perch on flower heads, well exposed, with plenty of darting chasing each other. They live in grasslands, and their larval foodplant, the common grass, Cock's-foot, whilst the adults like to nectar on thistles, ragwort and knapweeds. Emergence is usually in early July and the last ones are usually seen at the beginning of August, so a short flight period.
Essex Skippers were one of the last species of butterfly listed in the UK. In 1890 F.W. Hawes published an article describing that he had collected the species in Essex, and that it was likely that it had been previously overlooked. He was right, and specimens were found in several collections that had been labelled as Small Skippers. The reason is that it is superficially very similar to the Small Skipper. The best way to tell them apart in the field is to get down at eye level with the butterfly when perched, and examine the underside of their antennae (if you have good eyesight!) or take a photo. Essex Skippers have ink black undersides of the antennae tip (top shot), while in the Small Skipper the underside of the antennae tips are orange-brown (photo below)
The first time I saw this butterfly was at Spurn, in 2018, but in the last few years I have recorded it in several sites in Hull. Last week, I found it in my patch, at Sculcoates, on a meadow in a disused cemetery. As other species I've dealt with in the blog over the years, it is expanding its range northwards, possibly due to a combination of climate warming and habitat changes. It appears to be using motorway and trunk road embankments to disperse and it has been reported that hay transport could be another way this butterfly has colonised new sites, as the tiny eggs travel with the grass.
