Appearance
This well-camouflaged, brown and grey butterfly can be confused with the grizzled skipper, the Mother Shipton moth or the burnet companion moth. It is probably the most moth-like British butterfly and normally rests with its wings in a moth-like fashion.
Naming
Subspecies are little defined and include "E. t. unicolor" Freyer, 1852 found in Transcaucasia.
Distribution
It is widely but patchily distributed across Britain. It occurs further north than any other skipper in Scotland with some isolated colonies in the Inverness region. It is also one of the two skippers to be found in Ireland, again with a patchy distribution but the main strongholds along the western side.
Habitat
A variety of habitats are used including chalk downland, woodland clearings, coastal dunes, railway lines and waste ground. It is on the decline in several European countries including the UK and Armenia.
Food
The eggs are laid singly on the tender young leaves of bird's-foot trefoil, the favoured food plant and greater bird's-foot trefoil are sometimes used). The caterpillar creates a shelter by spinning leaves together and feeds until fully grown in August. It then creates a larger tent to form a hibernaculum where it hibernates. Pupation occurs the following spring without further feeding. Adults are on the wing from mid-May till mid-June.References:
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