The silver-spotted skipper is confined to chalk grassland where the sward is short and with areas of exposed baked earth; this is often areas grazed by extensively by rabbits. Such habitat is now scarce and the silver-spotted skipper has declined significantly since the end of the second World War and also since the myxomatosis outbreak in the early 1950s. It seems, though, that the remaining populations are at stable levels and it is thought some colonies may be increasing again thanks to careful habitat management. The female lays its eggs on sheep's fescue grass which is very common on chalk grassland.
Favouring warm, sunny conditions the silver-spotted skipper is generally seen in August and in to the early part of September and the Dorset reports would seem to bear this out with reports from week 32 through until week 36; there are less reports in weeks 35 and 36 which may because there are less about by this time or maybe it is just a lack of coverage by observers.
In Dorset, despite a significant amount of chalk grassland in the county, the silver-spotted skipper is now only found on Fontmell Down near Shaftesbury and as it is very territorial it is unlikely that even if there were suitable sites nearby that it would spread. Certainly, Fontmell down in August represents the only opportunity to see silver-spotted skippers in Dorset.
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