Essex Skipper

The sun and heat have finally arrived this Summer and the butterflies have arrived too. They head for the polytunnel - unfortunately for them, as the wasps do some easy hunting in there.

This hairy little chap quite obligingly hopped onto my finger and was happy to pose for a while. I thought it was a Small Skipper, but it’s been confirmed as an Essex skipper - the antennae are the best way to identify which member of the Skipper family you’re looking at. These dark ends are the giveaway - see Kiri’s site for more info.

The adults live amongst grasses where their eggs are laid. The caterpillars eat these grasses which include Cock’ Foot and Couch grass - we have that on our plot and along the hedgerow. So, no problem at all seeing these or their green caterpillar on the site.