Dingy Skipper

ADULT: Wingspan - 27 - 34mm. Very moth like in appearance with all upper surfaces variable in their brown and grey appearance. There is a distinct row of white spots towards the outer margins of all wings. The hindwings are more darker towards the body than that of the forewings. The undersides of both sexes are grey-brown with vague white markings and with the male having a prominent dark tuft of hair on the forewing. CHRYSALIS: 14mm. Green and brown and found on the foodplant. LARVA: 17mm. Green with a purplish black head this smallish caterpillar is difficult to locate as it hides in woven leaves and feeds at night. EGG: Orange, keeled and located on birds-foot trefoil or horseshoe vetch. Hatching time within 16 days. BEHAVIOUR: Discrete colonies are filled with adults that love to bask on bare ground. Males are territorial. Both sexes rest in a moth-like position on the heads of dead flowers. Flight can be low and quick or high and searching. HABITAT: Open woodland, dunes, heaths, rough grassland, lower hillside slopes. FLIGHT PERIOD: May - June. An occasional second brood may be seen throughout August.