Butterfly ID

[Russell]

A quick question please. Can anyone identify this chap. I'm veering towards an Essex Skipper rather than a Small Skipper, but what do I know!

 

https://www.imagesbyrussell.co.uk/mygalleries/gallery-6/18593578-608497-photo-2

 

Thanks for looking.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Russell
Insert from URL doesn't seem to work

[Thyrsis]

38 minutes ago, Russell said:

A quick question please. Can anyone identify this chap. I'm veering towards an Essex Skipper rather than a Small Skipper, but what do I know!

 

https://www.imagesbyrussell.co.uk/mygalleries/gallery-6/18593578-608497-photo-2

 

 

Thanks for looking.

The Seek app says Essex Skipper. Thymelicus lineola

[Gorilla Dave]

...you may have already been to this site, but they have some good illustrations and tips on identification.

I would agree with Essex Skipper

https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/small-skipper

https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/essex-skipper

[Russell]

Thanks both. I did check the butterfly-conservation site and others and there were differing views on the tips of the antennae and the scent lines. But looking at a number of images I'll go with Essex.

[Allan Bell]

Looked in my very knowledgable book of butterflies and I agree with Essex.

 

Allan

 

[Russell]

Thanks Allan.

[Betty LaRue]

Skippers are hard to identify. There’s so many different ones. Most look similar as far as body shape goes, but the nuance is in coloration & markings, which sometimes can be small differences. The ones with white spots are easier.

This is the favorite in my port, unidentifiable other than “skipper butterflies”.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Betty LaRue

[Phil Robinson]

The best identifier is the colour and shape of the antennae - the ends and underside of the tips are orange and pointed in the Small and black and more club-like in the Essex. Not easy to tell from the photo. If he has other images of the same specimen from a different angle that might make it easier.

[Marianne]

I've learned to keep even the rejects of my insect images, just for this reason. You never know when you'll need another angle.

 

Which phone apps do you find helpful? 

 

I keep meaning to upload one for when I'm out and know I may need a place to start my id. Faster than those interminable Google Images searches which invariably lead to much misinformation. Yesterday, for a plant ID, I ended up reading a Wikipedia entry and then checking the source for the AKA names, and found that the writer, despite seemingly extensive research, confused two distinct shrubs, and had the wrong info, repeated on blogs, fortunately the link to the academic source set me right in the very first paragraph. Nothing like referencing a source that disputes the info you supposedly cited from it! 

 

We live in the Misinformation Age. 

[Phil Robinson]

18 hours ago, Marianne said:

I've learned to keep even the rejects of my insect images, just for this reason. You never know when you'll need another angle.

 

Which phone apps do you find helpful? 

 

I keep meaning to upload one for when I'm out and know I may need a place to start my id. Faster than those interminable Google Images searches which invariably lead to much misinformation. Yesterday, for a plant ID, I ended up reading a Wikipedia entry and then checking the source for the AKA names, and found that the writer, despite seemingly extensive research, confused two distinct shrubs, and had the wrong info, repeated on blogs, fortunately the link to the academic source set me right in the very first paragraph. Nothing like referencing a source that disputes the info you supposedly cited from it! 

 

We live in the Misinformation Age. 

I have this great thing called a book. I've had it for years and it's never malfunctioned or even needed recharging.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Phil Robinson

[Keith Burdett]

This is the one:

 

https://www.nhbs.com/the-butterflies-of-britain-ireland-book

[Marianne]

10 hours ago, Phil Robinson said:

I have this great thing called a book. I've had it for years and it's never malfunctioned or even needed recharging.

 

Touché! 

 

I bought a Butterflies of the East Coast book from the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens some years back that I later found pretty useless, the drawings were unhelpful - way too vague - unlike the three bird books I have (Birds of N. America, East Coast and one on Gulls - all detailed very helpful drawings). I have lots of botanical books too (mostly with photos, some with drawings) and use them to confirm things I might find online...

 

I may be far more dependent on my iPhone than I'd like to be, but that's modern life. With the ease of AI to search by photo, it seems like a good place to start here in the 21st century.

 

 

 

[Marianne]

9 hours ago, Keith Burdett said:

This is the one:

 

https://www.nhbs.com/the-butterflies-of-britain-ireland-book

 

Those butterflies will have a long trip to appear in my New York garden... but I'll check it out next time I visit Great Britain (and the rest of the UK)  😎