Two brown and cream butterflies joined and facing away from each other Active

Dingy Skippers mating. Photo: Christine Brown

Family: Skippers
Size: Small   Wingspan: 29mm

Not as dingy as its name suggests: when it is fresh it is an attractive, if subtly coloured butterfly.

Where to see

  • Habitat: Open/rough ground, hillsides
  • Caterpillar foodplants: Birds-foot Trefoil
  • Best places: Cashmoor, Clubmens Down, Fontmell Down, Hod Hill, Melbury Down, Ballard Down, Durlston Country Park, Cerne Abbas, Portland Tout, Lankham Bottom, Southfield Hogcliffe

Distribution map

Dingy Skipper was recorded from these 1km squares in Dorset (2015-19).

    Key:
  •     1 record
  •     2-9 records
  •     10+ records
Explore the Atlas to see historical distribution trends for this species.

When to see

Peak month May, but may be seen either side of this month

Sightings by month (last 5 years)*

Compare flight times for all species.

This year and last*


Browse the sightings archive.

What to look for

Most likely to be confused with the Grizzled Skipper, this butterfly is more softly coloured. The Grizzled Skipper has more sharply defined markings, and distinctly chequered black and white fringes.

The female tends to be larger than the male and more strongly marked, especially regarding the series of white dots on the margin of the upper front wings.

Overwinter stage: Caterpillar

Photo gallery

Click thumbnails to view full-size images.

Small brown, beige and white dappled butterfly on a bright yellow dandelion flower

Dingy Skipper on a dandelion flower. Photo: Mark Pike

Two brown and cream butterflies joined and facing away from each other

Dingy Skippers mating. Photo: Christine Brown

Mid brown butterfly with white markings.

Dingy Skipper. Photo: Mark Pike

Top view of a dingy skipper against a grass background

Dingy Skipper. Photo: John Woodruff

Brown, beige and cream butterfly

Dingy Skipper. Photo: Chris Becker

Two brown butterflies, one a warmer brown with less white on it

DINGY SKIPPER to the rear and Grizzled Skipper to the front. Photo: James Gould

Find more Dingy Skipper related content, including news and photos.
*Note: The charts shown on this page are drawn only from casual sightings submitted to this website. Records from this website will be added to a lot more data collected throughout the year and used to compile the five-yearly Butterfly Atlases for Dorset and the UK.