57.006 .... B&F 1526
Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris (Poda, 1761).
Status .....At some time since Carr's 1916 book ' The Invertebrate Fauna of Nottinghamshire' and the follow-up Supplement to his original publication in 1935, the Small Skipper increased its range to become a common and familiar butterfly across the entire county. There does seem to be a slight westerly-bias to the county's records, but this may be driven by observer coverage. While it is still common today in areas of long grass, there is evidence of a gradual decline in the county's Small Skipper population since 1995, although this may be levelling off. In 1999, we recorded what we (at the time) deemed to be a catastrophic drop in Small Skipper numbers from all sites in the Eakring area, although it seems that no similar drop in numbers was noted elsewhere in Nottinghamshire.
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Photographed at Hills and Holes SSSI, Market Warsop June 2017
 
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Photographed at Sherwood Forest CP July 2009
 
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Photographed at Eakring Flash July 2003
 
 
Nottinghamshire (VC56) distribution of Small Skipper
 
 
 
 
The records for the Nottinghamshire distribution map are currently provided by the following contributors - Richard Rogers. Trevor and Dilys Pendleton. David Shaw. Darren Matthews. Netherfield Wildlife Group. Pauline Bradford. Nottingham City Council. Steve Horne. Wil Heeney. Stuart Warrington. The National Trust (Clumber Park invertebrate records). Peter Kirby (Bentinck Tip & Void Invertebrate survey 2007). Meg Skinner. Peter Acton. Graham Birkett. Lound Moth Group. Tom Shields. Brian Wetton. Nick and Samantha Brownley. David Shaw.

You can contribute your own records to help us gain an accurate status of this species in Nottinghamshire. Send an Excel spreadsheet of your records via the 'contact us' link at the top of the homepage.

Updated January 2024

copyright © Trevor and Dilys Pendleton (www.eakringbirds.com) . .
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