The Essex Small Skipper is difficult to distinguish from the Small Skipper, as it is about the same size and shares the same habitats and flight dates. The males are easier to tell apart, as the sex brand in the Essex Skipper is much less distinct and lies parallel to the edge of the wing rather than at an angle
| The females are truly just about identical though - I only knew this was an Essex because I had watched it fly from the flower on which the formal identification had been made (see next row)
| The underwing is also almost identical to that of the Small Skipper - it is said to be more straw-coloured, but I'm not convinced!
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The clinching identification is made by looking at the underside of the antenna tips, which are black instead of the Small Skipper's orange
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The black tips are seen even better in this head-on view, again in "angled wing" formation
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And here we have the Essex male's faint sex brand and black antennae at the same time
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