Lepidoptera The Dingy Skipper Butterfly – Nisoniades Tages

Colour-a dingy brown, indistinctly barred and spotted with a darker tint, and having a row of small white spots just inside the fringe of the hind margins. Under side-a paler brown, with rows of small white spots.

This butterfly is common in all parts of England, and is found in a few localities in Scotland and Ireland. It frequents dry banks, and is particularly partial to the chalky districts of the south-eastern counties. It is on the wing in May, and a second brood appears in lesser numbers in August.

The caterpillar is pale green, with two yellow stripes on each side, and a row of black spots above each stripe. It feeds on the bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), and may be found in June, and again in September.

The chrysalis (Butterflies PicturePlate VIII, fig. 12) is shaped something like that of the last species, and is coloured green on the front segments, and a rose red on the abdomen.

The perfect insect is represented in fig. 12 of Butterflies ImagePlate VII.