Dingy Skipper Butterfly (Erynnis tages)
An increasingly rare butterfly. I'd never seen a Dingy Skipper Butterfly (Erynnis tages) anywhere near the locality of my home, so I was both surprised & highly delighted to spot one a couple of weeks ago.
A small butterfly with a low, darting flight, in dull weather, and at night, it perches on the tops of dead flowerheads in a moth-like fashion with wings curved in a position not seen in any other British butterfly.
As you can see, this small brown and grey butterfly is extremely well camouflaged.
The dingy skipper is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It ranges from Europe across Asia Minor and Central Asia to the Amur region. "Erynnis tages" favours open grassy habitats up to 2,000 metres above sea level. The insect flies in two generations from May–June and July–August but in northern regions and at the high altitudes, there is only a single generation.
