Dingy skipper
This butterfly rests at night and in poor weather with its wings spread flat or tented moth-like over its body, unlike almost every other butterfly in Europe.
| Where | Chalk grassland, heathland and quarries |
|---|---|
| Size | 27 to 34 mm wingspan |
| When | April to August |
The Dingy Skipper is a small, mottled grey-brown butterfly with a moth-like resting posture, wings held flat or angled like a tent rather than closed upright. Rows of small pale spots run along the wing margins, and worn individuals can look almost uniformly grey.
Caterpillars feed on bird's-foot trefoil, spinning a shelter from folded leaves and grass. Adults fly from April to August, often with a partial second brood in warm summers, basking on bare ground or stones in open, sunny grassland and heathland.
Traits
Habitat
Grassland
Colour
Brown, Grey
Active
Day
To people
Basks openly on bare ground; harmless to people.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Smaller at about 20 to 27 mm wingspan, with a chequered black and white pattern rather than the plain mottled grey-brown of the Dingy Skipper.
Questions
Is the Dingy skipper dangerous to people?
Basks openly on bare ground; harmless to people.
When can you see the Dingy skipper?
The Dingy skipper can be seen from April to August, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Ge van 't Hoff, CC BY‑SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
The plate on this page is shared under the same licence as its source, CC BY-SA.
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Butterflies and moths›Skippers›Erynnis
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.