European skipper

Thymelicus lineola melissus

Another large “golden skipper” with a wingspan of 26-32 mm, resembles the small skipper but smaller with distinct black borders and veins; the undersides lack markings and are yellowish in males and greyish in females. Also called the “Essex skipper,” the European lives on coastal dunes, along tracksides and streamsides, and in woodland, meadows, thickets, and flower-rich grassland. Host plants are numerous grasses such as sweet vernal-grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), feather reed-grass (Calamagrostis epigejos), orchard-grass (Dactylis glomerata), reed Canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea), timothy (Phleum spp.), and wheats (Triticum spp.). It flies May through August, the flight is described as “buzzing.”

Video

Photographs