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Large skipper

Ochlodes venata

Photo by The MnMs
Published on Project Noah
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53.7577, 20.4545

Field Notes

Description:

The Large Skipper, in common with most members of the sub-family Hesperiinae, feeds in the larval stage on grasses.

Adult butterflies in this sub-family frequently adopt a characteristic resting posture as shown above, with the forewings held at 45 degrees, and the hindwings held almost flat. Another characteristic is the presence of a dark streak of androconia ( pheromone producing scales ) on the forewings of males, as shown above.

There are a vast number of very similar species found throughout the world. In Britain however the only similar species is the Silver-spotted Skipper, which can easily be told apart by the presence on the latter of prominent silvery spots on the underside hindwings.

Habitat:

This butterfly is distributed across most of Europe, but is absent from northern Scandinavia, Ireland, much of the southern Iberian peninsula, and most Mediterranean islands. Beyond Europe it's range extends across temperate Asia as far as Japan.

Notes:

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (2)

Thanks, Laura! I was in a one week conference in Poland and had the opportunity to visit the forests nearby and find a tremendous diversity of beautiful butterflies and other insects, and pretty flowers :-)
Beautiful set of pictures, Marta! The details are stunning. I love his fuzzy little body and that amazing shiny eye!

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