Complete Guide To The Long-Tailed Skipper Butterfly
Long-Tailed Skipper Butterfly
Long-Tailed Skipper Butterfly Images
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
How To Identify Long-Tailed Skipper Butterflies
- Wingspan: 1.5 – 2.0 inches (3.8 – 5.1 cm)
- Above:
- Deep green-blue hair covers body, bases of both forewing and hind wings, and head.
- Angular wings with a band of pale squares along the middle of the forewing, and scattered pale squares towards forewing tip.
- Each hind wing bears a long tail that projects nearly 0.8 inches (2 cm) beyond the trailing edge.
- These tails can wear away with age, because of predator attacks, and through friction with vegetation.
- Below:
- Pale brown overall.
- Forewings show pale, translucent patches
- Hind wings have two rows of darker, chocolate brown markings.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus labelled with field marks that identify the species. Photograph and diagram created by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus labelled with field marks that identify the species. Photograph and diagram created by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
How To Find Long-Tailed Skipper Butterflies
- Flight Season: Adult Long-Tailed Skipper Butterflies fly only in late summer and early fall in North Carolina, between late August and mid-November.
- These beautiful brown and green butterflies are most common in the southeastern corner of North Carolina.
- Long-Tailed Skippers can’t tolerate cold temperatures during any part of their lifecycle.
- Thus, these brown butterflies visit North Carolina only seasonally.
- They migrate north from and south to Florida in a regular pattern that follows changing temperatures.
- Long-Tailed Skippers are most abundant in the fall before the first hard freeze, as they flee south through our state towards Florida.
- Adult Long-Tailed Skippers don’t mate during the winter months but enter “reproductive arrest” until the weather warms again (Opler and Malikul 1992).
- Look for adult Long-Tailed Skipper Butterflies during the warmest summer months in pinelands, fields, home gardens, and fallow agricultural fields, as well as along roadsides and utility easements.
- Both sexes fly fast and usually low to ground.
- Avid nectar feeders, individual Long-Tailed Skipper Butterflies visit huge numbers of flowers throughout the day.
- They especially love plants in the Verbena family (Verbenaceae) like:
- White Vervain (Verbena urticifolia)
- Lavender Vervain (Verbena simplex)
- Lantanas (Lantana spp.) (Opler and Malikul 1992)
- In between feedings, male Long-Tailed Skipper Butterflies perch on low vegetation and fly back and forth patrolling for females with whom to mate. In contrast, females focus on identifying appropriate host plants and laying eggs between feedings.
- Long-Tailed Skipper Butterflies are also known as “Bean Leaf Rollers” (Wagner 2005), thanks to the caterpillars’ habit of forming shelters out of the bean plant leaves upon which they feed.
Long-Tailed Skipper Butterfly Classification
|
Phylum |
Arthropoda |
|
Class |
Insecta |
|
Order |
Lepidoptera |
|
Family |
Hesperiidae (Skipper Butterflies) |
|
Genus |
Urbanus |
|
Species |
U. proteus |
Binomial Name |
Urbanus proteus |
