# Small skipper (*Thymelicus sylvestris*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/small-skipper  
Data as of: 2026-11-13

The small skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) is a species in the family Hesperiidae, order Lepidoptera.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 2.4 cm – 2.9 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Nectarivore |
| Main food | flowers |
| Habitat | grassland, shrubland, wetland |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| On the wing | April to September |
| Generations a year | One |
| Larval food plants | Poaceae family |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Introduced range

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists it as introduced in 1 country. Introduced: United States. Source: https://griis.org/ (CC BY 4.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Arthropoda
- class: Insecta
- order: Lepidoptera
- family: Hesperiidae
- genus: Thymelicus
- species: *Thymelicus sylvestris* (Poda, 1761)

Synonyms: *Adopaea flava iberica*, *Adopaea fulminans*, *Adopaea lategrisea*, *Adopaea latenigra*, *Adopaea macta*, *Adopaea major*, *Adopaea maxima*, *Adopaea pallida*, *Adopaea pallidavirescens*, *Adopaea pallidiscus*, *Adopaea reversa*, *Adopaea suffusa*, *Adopaea suffusavirescens*, *Adopaea sylvestris*, *Adopaea thaumas*, *Adopaea thaumatana*, *Adopoea flava*, *Adopoea pallida*, *Hesperia antiardens*, *Hesperia linea*, *Hesperia thaumas*, *Papilio comma*, *Papilio divaricatus*, *Papilio flava*, *Papilio flavus*, *Papilio flavus*, *Papilio linea*, *Papilio sylvestris*, *Papilio thaumas*, *Papilio venula*, *Thymelicus flava*, *Thymelicus sylvestris ibericus*, *Thymelicus sylvestris sylvestris*, *Thymelicus thaumas*

## Common questions

### How big is the small skipper?

An adult small skipper has a wingspan of 2.4 cm – 2.9 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### What does the small skipper eat?

Its recorded main food is flowers.

### Is the small skipper an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the small skipper as introduced in 1 country: United States, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

### What kind of animal is the small skipper?

The small skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) belongs to the family Hesperiidae in the order Lepidoptera.

## Sources

- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS)](https://griis.org/), CC BY 4.0, 2026-11-13. Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group.
- [LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1
- [TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844), CC BY 4.0, 2.0. Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).

Cite as: Small skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/small-skipper