Also their flight periods rarely overlap; in Britain the large skipper has all but finished when the silver-spotted takes to the wing in August.

The silver-spotted skipper prefers warm calcareous sites and has a wide distribution as far south as North Africa, northwards throughout Europe to the Arctic and eastwards across Asia to China and Japan.

Females lay single eggs during August and September on the leaf blades of sheep's fescue Festuca ovina, the only foodplant, and occasionally on nearby plants.

The females are very fussy where they lay; most eggs in the UK are laid in short turf, up to 4 cm, and often next to patches of bare ground.

Concerted conservation efforts in the UK, backed by government agencies, have seen this once-threatened species thriving in certain areas.