A new species of butterfly to the island has been spotted.
This small skipper is one of a number seen in a meadow at Lezayre for the second year running.
Four individuals were seen at the site in July last year including an egg-laying female.
And this year, good numbers of small skippers were seen at the same site.
Butterfly expert Garry Curtis said it was too early to say whether this was the result of natural colonisation or a deliberate introduction that could see the insects disappear again just as suddenly as they arrived.
But he pointed out that three species of skippers in the UK are making their way north. This is presumably as a result of climate change.
Garry said: ‘We're at a very early stage here.
‘On July 13 last year I received a message with a photograph of a small skipper.
‘I visited the site on 14th and found two individuals, and visited again on 16th when I found four including an egg-laying female. None were seen after the 16th. It would appear they were spotted right at the end of the 2025 flight period.
‘It has therefore been a long wait to see what would transpire this year and the site was monitored throughout late May and June.
‘On July 1 this year they were spotted again.
‘Numbers appear to be really good for such a relatively small area.
‘To be honest it's been purely a case of monitoring progress on the site and it's currently a case of establishing when this year's flight period ends.
‘Next year, providing they appear again, the excitement will be a little less and I can concentrate on looking for them further afield within the surrounding area.’
The island currently has 16 resident butterflies plus three migrants that are regular visitors, the red admiral, painted lady and clouded yellow.
Two, the speckled wood and comma, have only been added to the list of Manx fauna in the last decade or so.
And two more, the brimstone and ringlet, are on the brink of colonising the island.
Skippers are a family of small moth-like butterflies with thick-set bodies and a characteristic darting flight, often close to the ground.
Small skippers have bright orange-brown wings held with forewings angled above their hind wings.
There are a total of eight species of skipper in the UK.
Garry said three species of skipper are making their way inexorably north - large skipper, small skipper and Essex skipper. All are found in England and Wales.
He said: ‘The most recent notable movements have been in Scotland. Small skipper colonised the south of Scotland this century and large skipper, formerly found just in south-west Scotland, has colonised south-east Scotland.
‘Small skipper is now also found in Ireland, although only in County Kildare, and the Essex skipper established in Co Wexford in 2006.’
Garry said the caterpillars of these three species all feed on various species of wild grasses.
