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Hoverfly feeding on sugar/honey syrup on a camellia leaf. Eupeodes sp. I think. Focus stacked using zerene
Taken on a small meadow near the forest, not far from my hometown (Central Poland).
Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. This butterfly's range includes southern Britain, much of Europe, north Africa and the Middle East, typically occurring where grass has grown tall.
Eggs they laid loosely inside grass sheathes of the caterpillars foodplants from July to August. The newly hatched caterpillars eat their own eggshell before entering hibernation individually in a protective cocoon of a grass sheath sealed with silk. In the spring the caterpiller begins feeding. The favoured food plant is Yorkshire Fog Holcus lanatus, although other recorded foodplants include Timothy Phleum pratense, Creeping Soft Grass Holcus mollis, False Brome Brachypodium sylvaticum, Meadow Foxtail Alopecurus pratensis and Cock's foot Dactylis glomerata. The caterpillars pupate near the base of the foodplant in June with the first adults on the wing at the end of June, a week or two before the first Essex Skippers.They are strongly attracted to purple flowers such as Thistles and Knapweeds.
Polish name: karłątek leśny