Colley Hill, Reigate, Surrey. Tuesday 2nd May 2017. A rare and vulnerable Dingy Skipper Butterfly (Erynnis tages) makes the most of the warm weather, resting on a nettle leaf on the slopes of Colley Hill, Reigate, Surrey. Photo by ©Lindsay Constable / Alamy Live News
From a distance a basking Dingy Skipper certainly lives up to its name being dull brown orange-brown or grey-brown in colour. However on close inspection a freshly emerged Dingy Skipper has a wonderfully intricate pattern on both the upper-sides and undersides of their wings. It also has what one can only describe as a 'cute' appearance when viewed up-close. Its fluffy head and big eyes make it a charming character. Unlike many other butterfly species, the Dingy Skipper will often rest with its wings wrapped around a dead flower head or stem where it is perfectly camouflaged, behaviour unlike most other butterfly species which rest with their wings closed above their backs. The Dingy Skipper can be seen from the end of April until the middle of August depending upon the location in the UK with sites in the south producing earlier individuals. It is a Priority Species for conservation due to the continued loss of habitat and resulting drop in population. Habitat: The Dingy Skipper prefers a range of open sunny habitats with areas sheltered from strong winds. The larval food plant needs to grow within sparse grassy vegetation in a sheltered situation in full sun. Taller plants such as Brambles etc are also needed by the adults for shelter, roosting and basking where they prefer prominent stems, leaves or bare patches of earth from which they defend their territories and wait for females. Distribution: The Dingy Skipper is found throughout the UK but has seen a major decline over recent years and is probably under-recorded in many areas due to the low population density. This butterfly is often found on post-industrial 'brown field' sites many of which are under threat from development and urban re-generation schemes. They are also found on disused railway lines quarries and rough ground. INFO SOURCE:
Size: 2591px × 2591px
Location: Colley Hill, Reigate and Banstead District, United Kingdom
Photo credit: © Lindsay Constable / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: biodiversity, butterfly, chalk, colley, cuckoo, dingy, downland, downs, endangered, erynnis, family, fauna, feeding, flora, flower, genus, hedgerow, hesperiidae, hill, insecta, iucn, ladies, lepidoptera, lone, nectar, north, pollinator, pollinators, pyrginae, rare, reigate, risk, single, skipper, smock, species, status, subfamily, surrey, tages, vulnerable, wild, wildlife
