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Butterfly ID
Topic Started: Sep 16 2008, 02:56 PM (19,491 Views)
Davebutterflyman
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Well worth it indeed. Not a species you would see that often and it is easily overlooked due to it's rather drab colouration.
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happyhare
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Osprey
Not sure what this is, thought it might be a skipper of some kind? Thanks in advance!
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IMG_3522.jpg (78.05 KB)
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Davebutterflyman
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It is indeed Happyhare....a Small Skipper.
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carlos100
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Insect ID Moderator
Cool

Well done Happyhare :cool2:

Summers here now theres Skippers about :lol2:
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happyhare
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Osprey
Oh goody! :sunshine: thanks Carl

Thanks for the ID Dave :cool:
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Outney Bill
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Buzzard

Begging, to differ :biscuit:

Here's thinkin', it's a Large Skipper !.
ref. ''Mottled Wings''.
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Davebutterflyman
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:hello1: OB

That is the other species i was looking at but the thing that does it for me is the antennae on that specimen are not hooked enough to be Large Skipper,there is only slight curvature of the antennae on Small Skipper.

If you look at this image of a Small Skipper you can see the mottled effect on this species which is similar to Large Skipper and can quite obviously cause some confusion.

http://www.phototopix.co.uk/macro-still-life/25209-small-skipper-butterfly.html

This is also the case with the 'sex branding' on the male Small Skipper (the dark lines on each forewing) and you can see on this pair of photos that the male carries the sex brands which can also cause confusion with Large skipper which also has these sex brands.

Posted Image

Just to highlight how ridiculously tricky it can be to id the two species and even the two genders....this is an image of a male Large Skipper which is not showing the sex brands??!! but you can tell it is Large Skipper by looking at the hooked antennae.

Posted Image

All in all it can be tricky to id Small from Large Skipper from a photo alone but the one area that is constant as a diagnostic feature when separating the two species is the hooked antennae.

Many thanks for raising the query Bill and it has been extremely useful in helping highlight these two tricky species. What i am going to do however is copy the original image and have a fiddle about with a programme to see if i can highlight the antennae without it blurring and this should hopefully confirm it 100%.


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Davebutterflyman
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I have just had a quick play with the original photo...

Posted Image

If you zoom to 400x you can see the right hand antennae appears to be more clubbed than hooked but it is very tricky to spot this and i am now not 100% on either species having looked at great depth around the end of the antennae. It does appear to be more inconclusive than conclusive and i might have to change this to a Hesperiidae sp rather than down to species level.

I do have another programme i can use but it will take a bit more work to create a clearer image but i think it is worth trying....i'll get back to you all on this one and it is a very interesting topic of debate.
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Deleted User
Deleted User


I'm begging to differ on a different note:-

carlos100
Jun 18 2012, 02:43 PM

Summers here now theres Skippers about :lol2:


I saw two Coal Tits on our feeders yesterday Carl and they only come visiting when snow is due and/or already here!!! :scream: :lol2:
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Dovetail-Marg
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I'm not going to get too excited yet as I might be wrong. I went to Daneway Banks today and I think!!! this is a Large Blue........ toes and :fingerscrossed: at the moment. :grin:

I'm afraid I couldn't get a photo with it's wings open, it was a bit windy, so it was a tad skittish.

Posted Image

This one is a bit blurry but I put it up on here as you can just!! see the blue and the black that was on the edge of it's wings.

Posted Image
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Davebutterflyman
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Oooooo Marg!! fabulous :clap3:

It is indeed a Large Blue and what a fantastic find....extremely well done :clap3:
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Deleted User
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It certainly looks like it to me Marg :cool2: but will wait for confirmation :grin:

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Deleted User
Deleted User

oops we were posting at the same time Dave!!

:yay: way to go Marg :clap:

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Dovetail-Marg
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:yay: :yay: :yay: Thanks Dave, I thought it was, but wasn't 100% sure.

It was worth falling down 2!! rabbit holes in the end then. ahh I felt a bit like Alice in Wonderland and was quite expecting a huge white rabbit to appear. :rofl:

Big smile on my face now, as far as I know only two people have seen it so far this year, and I'm the second!! more :yay: :yay: :grin:

edit= Sorry Judy, thanks aswell. :grin:
Edited by Dovetail-Marg, Jun 19 2012, 06:12 PM.
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carlos100
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Insect ID Moderator
Oh cool

Well done Marg :clap5:
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Outney Bill
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Buzzard
Hi Dave !

Thanks for all your time, effort and info.
regarding the Small/Large Skipper, ID..
Plenty of food for thought,to get stuck into.
At this moment in time, i'm still
leaning towards, Large Skipper.

great stuff ... good 'un, Dave :cool1:
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Night Owl
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:woo: Well Done Marg :clap5:
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feedyourhedgehog
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:hi5: Fantastic stuff Marg, congratulations :congratulations:
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Davebutterflyman
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I have looked numerous times OB and i still can't decide if the antennae are hooked or blunt.
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happyhare
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Osprey
Which Fritillary is this please?
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