Dingy Skipper - Erynnis tages
This bare ground specialist has been heavily impacted by scrub encroachment and succession, particularly where its foodplant - Bird's-foot-trefoil - has been smothered and outcompeted by more vigorous species. It is possible that it still clings on in the Tuckingmill area, and we hope that our work at Great Wheal Seton will help to create more bare ground habitat for this rare butterfly.
Dingy Skipper
Photo Steve Jones
The Dingy Skipper - Erynnis tages was an infrequent & rare sighting between Tuckingmill & Brea in the mid 1990s. In the past 10 years there have been confirmed records from Great Wheal Seton and the Tuckingmill area, but it is unclear whether this species continues to hang on in the Red River Valley. Recent surveys for this species at Great Wheal Seton have proved fruitless.