Arctic Skipper

A tiny Skipper butterfly, seen at Griffith Woods on 15 June 2013. The Arctic Skipper is also known as Chequered Skipper.

"Eggs are laid in June or July and take about 10 days to hatch. On hatching, the larvae make shelters from rolled grass blades tied with silk from where they emerge at night to feed. In the autumn they construct a hibernaculum by drawing together several blades and the fully grown larvae spend the winter here. Before hibernation they are a pale green, after hibernation they are a pale beige. Upon waking the following spring they make no attempt to feed and will rest on a blade of grass for up to a week before pupating. The pupae are a pale buff colour with dark lines running along the length and are well camouflaged. About five or six weeks later the adult emerges and can be seen on the wing between May and July depending on the latitude (later further north). A very active butterfly, it needs a lot of nectar and sunshine. However, they are less strictly diurnal than other skippers. Although preferentially flying from the late morning to dusk, they may be found before dawn and some time after dusk too." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chequered_Skipper