Silver-spotted Skipper

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iSilver-spotted Skipper

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Hesperioidea
Family:	Hesperiidae
Subfamily:	Hesperiinae
Genus:	Hesperia
Species:	H. comma

Binomial name

Hesperia comma
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma) is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. The butterfly is known as the Common Branded Skipper or Holarctic Grass Skipper in North America.

Note that the butterfly Epargyreus clarus, a Spread-winged Skipper in North America also has the common name of 'Silver-spotted Skipper'.

1 Appearance, behaviour and distribution
2 Life cycle and foodplants
3 Recent resurgence in the UK
4 References and external links

[edit] Appearance, behaviour and distribution

Often confused with the, Large Skipper Ochlodes venata, it is easily distinguished by the by the numerous white spots on the underside hindwings and the tips of the upperwings forwings tending to be darker than those of the Large Skipper. Also their flight periods rarely overlap, the Large Skippers has all but finished when the Silver-spotted takes to the wing in August. It prefers warm calcareous sites and has a wide distribution as far south as North Africa, northwards throughout Europe to the Arctic and eastwards across Asiato China and Japan. The butterfly also has some subspecies in North America. In the UK it is a rare butterfly restricted to chalk downlands of southern England.

[edit] Life cycle and foodplants

Females lay single eggs during August and September on the leaf blades of Sheep's Fescue Festuca ovina, the only foodplant, and occasionally on nearby plants. The females are very fussy where they lay and most eggs in the UK are laid in short turf, up to 4cm, and often next to patches of bare ground. This species overwinters as an egg and hatches in March. Like other Skippers the larvae construct small tent-like structures from leaf blades and silk from which to feed from and enter the pupal stage after fourteen to fifteen weeks at the base of the foodplant. Pupation takes 10-14 days and as with most butterflies the males emerge first.

[edit] Recent resurgence in the UK

Concerted conservation efforts in the UK, backed by government agencies, have seen this once-threatened species thriving in certain areas. Numbers have increased by some 1500% over the last twenty years; the number of sites has increased from just 68, with 202 new sites established. Conservation schemes have focussed on providing the silver-spotted skipper with suitable habitats, with positive results.