Meadow Brown and Lulworth Skipper. Photo: Shona Refoy
Shona spotted this Meadow Brown and Lulworth Skipper at Ballard Down on 22/06/19 and noted her photograph of them both nectaring on the same flower was a good way of seeing the size difference.
Tag Archives: Lulworth Skipper
Common Blue. Photo: Harold Gillen
Lulworth Skipper. Photo: Harold Gillen
Harold tells us.
I helped out on the Lulworth Walk yesterday, 5/06/19 and saw plenty of Lulworth Skippers and a lovely female Common Blue.
Saw 12 species in all including my first Large Skipper and Meadow Brown of the season.
Well done Harold sounds like a very successful event.
Lulworth Skipper’s unpredictable flight periods
Lulworth Skipper. Photo: Chris Abbott
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When the Lulworth Skipper can be seen on the wing is becoming increasingly difficult to predict. The first sighting sent to the website this year was 11 May. Continue reading
Lulworth Skipper.Photo: Charles Thompson
Charles found this little Lulworth Skipper on Bindon Hill in June.
He has managed to capture the diagnostic paw print or some say sun-ray pattern on the fore-wings which makes for an interesting photo.
This is a female and is quite recognisable from the pale orange crescent on her forewings, which is either lacking or very feint in the male. The male is darker in colour, and has a sex brand on each forewing made up of a very fine line of scent scales.
There is one generation each year with an extremely protracted flight period that extends from the end of May through to early September and is very site-dependent.
Lulworth Skipper. Photo: Mark Pike
Lulworth Skipper. photo: Mark Pike
Unbelievably these Skipper photos were taken in Corfe Castle car park on 2/06/18 by Mark Pike.
Who would imagine finding this species there, Mark says he even saw some settling on cars!
The above photograph shows the diagnostic sunray pattern of a Lulworth Skipper very well, not something usually captured.
Well done Mark!
Lulworth Skipper. photo: Andy Martin
This was Andy’s first sighting of a Lulworth Skipper this year, and he found nine of them on the Ulwell to Ballard Down track on 2/6/18.
This species is only found in the south of England, it’s distribution is centred around Lulworth in Dorset, between Weymouth and the Isle of Purbeck. It can be found flying from the end of May to early September in grassy ,flowery habitats usually among scrub.
This is a species that has responded dramatically to climate change with many books showing flight times which no longer apply.
Lulworth Skipper. Photo: Brian Arnold
Lulworth Skipper. Photo: Brian Arnold
Brian came across these Lulworth Skippers on 27/08/2017 at Durlston East whilst doing his transect walk.
As he says they are very faded and he didn’t expect to find any this late in their season, though they are not very predictable these days: see our “Unpredictable Lulworth Skipper” article) He tells us that the top photograph is of a Male and the one above is a female. The yellow paw print markings on the upper fore-wings are usually more prominent on the females of this species.
Despite its name, Lulworth Skipper, this butterfly is found throughout most of Europe, but is restricted to the Dorset coast in the UK.
The unpredictable Lulworth Skipper
Lulworth Skipper. Photo: Mark Pike
The Lulworth Skipper is a butterfly which is only found in Dorset in the UK, though it does exist in some of Europe and further afield. Continue reading
Lulworth Skipper at Corfe Castle
Female Lulworth Skipper. Photo: Mark Pike.
Mark photographed this in teh car park at Corfe Castle on 13/06/2017.
Lulworth Skipper caterpillars at Seacombe Bottom
Luworth skipper larva. Photo: Dom Greves
Luworth skipper larva. Photo: Dom Greves
Both of these shots were taken at Seacombe Bottom, near Langton Matravers in Purbeck. For a video of the caterpillars in action go to our News page
The Lulworth Skipper is only found in Dorset, and it should be on the wing before long. Last year it appeared on 27 May, and the year before that 21 May. See our Species page for more information. A good place to see it is Durlston Country Park.