Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly Epargyreus clarus. Brown butterfly. Insect. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright © 2024 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.

Skippers – family Hesperiidae

Subfamilies include:

  • Spread-winged Skippers (Pyrginae)
  • Firetips (Pyrrhopyginae)
  • Skipperlings (Heteropterinae)
  • Grass Skippers (Hesperiinae)
  • Giant Skippers (Megathyminae)

General Characteristics:

  • Very large group
  • Roughly one-third of all butterfly species in North America belong to this family (Brock and Kaufman 2006)
  • Sometimes called “true skippers”.
  • Ends of antennae are hooked, rather than clubbed like other butterflies.
  • Wide heads with large eyes.
  • Very fast fliers.
  • Difficult to identify to species except in a few cases.
  • Caterpillars of many species form leaf shelters by bending leaves over and anchoring the edges with silk.
  • Caterpillars have large, spherical heads attached to their bodies by a thin “collar”.

To jump to the details for each individual species, click on the animal’s name in the list below.

To see the full list of every animal included in Now I Wonder, please visit the Index page.

Index Of Skipper Butterflies By Name

Species

Common Checkered Skipper Butterfly (Pyrgus communis)

Class

Insecta

Order

Lepidoptera

Family

Hesperiidae (Skipper Butterflies)

Genus species

Pyrgus communis

  • Males are aggressive defenders of specific territories (Pyle 1981) and will dart out to challenge encroaching intruders.
  • Common Checkered Skippers are indistinguishable from White Checkered Skipper Butterflies (Pyrgus albescens). The two species can only be told apart by dissection (Daniels 2003).

How To Identify Common Checkered Skipper Butterflies

  • Wingspan: 0.75 – 1.25 inches (1.9 – 3.2 cm)
  • Above:
    • Both forewings and hindwings are covered with lots of white spots against a black background and fringed in white and black.
      • Females are usually darker than males, with less distinct checkered markings.
    • Body and wing bases are covered in fine, blue-gray hair.
    • Black eyes.
    • Bands of black and white fringe edge their wings.
  • Below:
    • Both forewings and hindwings have alternating, jagged, brown and white bands.

How to Find Common Checkered Skipper Butterflies

  • Flight Season: In North Carolina, Common Checkered Skipper butterflies fly from early spring through fall. Look for them to emerge starting around mid-April.
    • They have multiple broods every season, so can be found all summer long until mid to late October.
    • They become more common as the summer progresses. August and September have the most individuals.
    • Adults overwinter in North Carolina (Glassberg 1999).
  • Look for adult Common Checkered Skipper butterflies in open, disturbed areas, like farm fields, roadsides, and parks.
    • They live in every habitat except for deep forest.
    • Common Checkered Skippers prefer areas with lots of low vegetation and some bare soil, like around road shoulders and in vacant lots (Opler and Malikul 1992).
  • Adult Common Checkered Skipper butterflies sip nectar from a variety of flowers. They especially like plants within the Aster family (Asteraceae) like:
    • Eastern Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron anuus)
    • Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
    • Hairy White Oldfield Aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum)
    • Greater Tickseed (Coreopsis major)
    • Bearded Beggartick (Bidens aristosa)
  • Common Checkered Skipper butterflies are very active. They bounce from flower to flower with rapid, darting flight and rarely land for more than a second or two.
    • They spread their wings when perched so their checkerboard pattern is easily visible.

How To Identify Common Checkered Skipper Eggs, Caterpillars, and Chrysalises

Eggs

  • Common Checkered Skipper eggs start out pale green. Females lay their eggs one at a time on the leaves of plants in the Mallow family (Malvaceae). As the larvae develop inside, the eggs change color from green to cream (Pyle 1981).

Caterpillars

  • Common Checkered Skipper caterpillars are quite small, growing to only about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm).
  • Pale green, liberally sprinkled with tiny white dots, and covered in short white hairs.
    • Have large, spherical brown heads with a prominent brown “collar” between the head and the first thoracic segment.
  • Look for Common Checkered Skipper caterpillars on plants in the Mallow family (Malvaceae), like:
    • Rose Mallow (Hibiscus coccineus)
    • Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)
    • Carolina Mallow (Modiola caroliniana)
  • Common Checkered Skipper caterpillars are especially common on Mallow plants growing in dry areas (Wagner 2005).

Chrysalises

  • Chrysalises are green at the head and shade to brown at the tip and banded with dark speckles (Pyle 1981).

Horace’s Duskywing Skipper Butterfly (Erynnis horatius)

Class

Insecta

Order

Lepidoptera

Family

Hesperiidae (Skipper Butterflies)

Genus species

Erynnis horatius

  • Often mistaken for moths because both are dull brown and spread their wings out flat when perched.
  • Called “skippers” because of their quick, darting flying style, called “duskywings” because of their dull, brown coloration, and “Horace’s” after a Roman poet (many duskywing species are named after Roman poets) (Glassberg 1999).
  • Horace Duskywing Skippers do not sequester toxic chemicals from their food plants in their body tissues like some other butterfly species. They are entirely edible for insect-eating predators like birds, spiders, assassin bugs, and Green Anoles.
  • Look very similar to several other Duskywing species, like Juvenal’s Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) and Zarucco Duskywing (Erynnis zarucco). Distinguishing between the different species can be difficult for two reasons:
    • Species identification relies on faint and subtle field marks.
    • Individuals within the same species can vary in appearance.
  • Casual nature observers in North Carolina are most apt to spot a Horace’s Duskywing Skipper as this species has a longer flight season and a broader distribution than the other species.

How To Identify Horace’s Duskywing Skipper Butterflies

  • Wingspan: 1.25 – 1.75 inches (3.2 – 4.4 cm)
  • Above:
    • Both forewings and hindwings are predominantly brown, with no gray.
    • Differentiated from several different species of Duskywing Skippers mostly by the presence of a single, tiny, white spot on the forewing cell.
    • Cluster of small, white spots at forewing tip.
      • Wing markings are otherwise minimal and small, pale, and faint.
    • Females are lighter brown overall, with more contrast in wing markings.
  • Below:
    • Paler than above overall.
    • Mottled dark and light brown with no white markings.

How to Find Horace’s Duskywing Skipper Butterflies

  • Flight Season: In North Carolina, adult Horace Duskywing Skippers fly between May and October, and have approximately three broods every summer (Daniels 2003).
    • This species has a longer flight season than other duskywing skippers such as the Juvenal’s Skipper (Erynnis juvenalis), which only flies for the first few months of spring.
  • Look for adult Horace Duskywing Skippers in warm, sunny spots near woodlands, especially woods with oak trees.
  • Males perch on low vegetation and sometimes like to puddle at damp sand or gravel to drink water and obtain mineral salts.

How To Identify Horace’s Duskywing Skipper Eggs, Caterpillars, And Chrysalises

Eggs

  • Horace Duskywing Skipper (Erynnis horatius) eggs are relatively large, laid singly (Wagner 2005), and start out green, then turn pink as the larvae grow (Pyle 1981).

Caterpillars

  • Grow to approximately 1.2 inches (3 cm)
  • Hairy, blue-green bodies, with a pale side stripe.
  • Large, spherical, orange-brown head decorated with three orange spots on each side (Wagner 2005)
  • Horace’s Duskywing Skipper caterpillars feed at night, so are hard to find but look for them on and around oak trees.
    • Horace Duskywing Skipper (Erynnis horatius) caterpillars feed on a variety of oak trees (genus Quercus) found in North Carolina, especially:
      • Live Oak (Quercus virginiana)
      • Turkey Oak (Quercus laevis)
      • Water Oak (Quercus nigra)
      • Post Oak (Quercus stellata) (Daniels 2003).
  • Duskywing Skipper caterpillars grow throughout the summer months and change color as the summer progresses to mimic the color of the leaves upon which they feed (Wagner 2005).
    • They start out green, then slowly turn reddish as the oak leaves lose their green chlorophyll and assume their reddish-orange autumn colors.
  • When summer turns to fall and the temperatures begin to drop, the last brood of caterpillars drop off their host plants and take refuge in leaf litter (Pyle 1981).

Chrysalises

  • In spring, Horace’s Duskywing Skipper caterpillars respond to warming temperatures and form dark green or brown chrysalises (Pyle 1981). They metamorphose inside, then emerge as the spring season’s first adults.

Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly (Urbanus proteus)

Class

Insecta

Order

Lepidoptera

Family

Hesperiidae (Skipper Butterflies)

Genus species

Urbanus proteus

  • Long-tailed Skipper butterflies in North Carolina are migratory. They fly south when temperatures drop in the fall and overwinter in sunny, warm Florida (Daniels 2003).
  • Found mostly in the southeastern corner of the state.
  • 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.

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 fore- and hindwings, and head.
    • Angular wings with a band of pale squares along the middle of the forewing, and scattered pale squares towards forewing tip.
    • Each hindwing 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
    • Hindwings have two rows of darker, chocolate brown markings.

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.
  • Long-tailed Skippers are unable to tolerate cold temperatures during any part of their lifecycle.
    • Seasonal visitors to North Carolina only.
    • They migrate north from and south to Florida in a regular pattern that follows changing temperatures.
      • Adult Long-tailed Skippers don’t mate during the winter months but enter “reproductive arrest” until the weather warms again (Opler and Malikul 1992).
    • Most abundant in the fall, before the first hard freeze, as they flee south through our state towards Florida.
  • Look for adult Long-tailed Skippers 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 Skippers 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, males 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.

How To Identify Long-tailed Skipper Eggs, Caterpillars, And Chrysalises

Eggs

  • Female Long-tailed Skippers lay their eggs one at a time on the underside of host plant leaves (Daniels 2003). The eggs are pale yellow and tiny—only about 1/256th of an inch (0.004 inches or 0.1mm) (Pyle 1981).

Caterpillars

  • Long-tailed Skipper caterpillars are colorful and distinctive, and grow to about 1.25 inches (3.2 cm) long.
    • Round, dark brown, spherical head with distinct collar or “neck”.
    • Large black spot in center of “face” separates two smaller orange spots
    • Body is green with several stripes that run from head to abdominal tip.
      • Thin black, middorsal stripe.
      • Single, wider yellow subdorsal stripe on either side.
    • Dark, orange-brown spot over final abdominal segment and anal plate (Wagner 2005).
  • Look for Long-tailed Skipper caterpillars on plants in the Pea family (Fabaceae) like:
    • American Hog Peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata)
    • Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis)
    • Pink Fuzzybean (Strophostyles umbellata)
    • Spurred Butterfly Pea (Centrosema virginianum)
    • Perennial Pea (Lathyrus latifolius)
    • Kudzu (Pueraria montana)
  • Unfortunately, humans also cultivate plants in the Pea family, so this species is considered a pest by many bean farmers and home gardeners.

Chrysalises

  • Long-tailed Skipper chrysalises are 0.875 inches long (22 mm), chocolate brown subtly shaded with blue and yellow, and covered in a white, powdery surface (Pyle 1981).

Silver-spotted Skipper Butterfly (Epargyreus clarus)

Class

Insecta

Order

Lepidoptera

Family

Hesperiidae (Skipper Butterflies)

Genus species

Epargyreus clarus

  • Silver-spotted Skipper caterpillars shoot their excrement (called “frass”) up to 38 body lengths away from themselves (Weiss 2003) in an evolved defense mechanisms against dangerous creatures like parasitic wasps that might otherwise locate the caterpillars by smelling their frass.
  • Adult Silver-spotted Skipper butterflies have long probosces, so can access nectar from a wide variety of flowers (Daniels 2003).
  • Although Silver-spotted Skimmers are classified as “spread-wing skippers” in subfamily Pyrginae, they usually perch with their wings closed unless basking in the sun.

How To Identify Silver-spotted Skipper Butterflies

  • Wingspan: 1.75 – 2.4 inches (4 – 6.1 cm)
  • Male and female Silver-spotted Skipper butterflies look similar.
  • Above:
    • Dark brown with an orange band across the middle of the forewing.
    • Large, dark eyes.
    • Hooked antennae.
  • Below:
    • Dark brown overall with large, bright, irregular silver-white patch on the hindwing.
    • Forewing looks much the same as from above—dark brown with an orange band.
    • Short, stout abdomen.

How to Find Silver-spotted Skipper Butterflies

  • Flight Season: Adults fly between early May through late October in North Carolina.
  • Look for them in open, sunny spaces with flowers, like meadows, roadsides, parks, orchards, utility easements and gardens.
  • Males are territorial and often perch on low vegetation so they can watch for females and intruding males (Brock and Kaufman 2006). Sometimes, Silver-spotted Skipper butterflies will fly out to investigate passing humans.

How to Identify Silver-spotted Skipper Eggs, Caterpillars, And Chrysalises

Eggs

  • Female Silver-spotted Skippers lay their round, green eggs one at a time on the leaves of their host plants (Daniels 2003).

Caterpillars

  • Approximately 1.4 inches (3.5 cm) long.
  • Large, spherical, reddish-brown head with a pair of large orange spots attached to body with distinctive “collar”.
  • Wrinkled, mostly bright yellow, with alternating yellow and thin green bands along each body segment.
  • Covered in very short, nearly invisible bristles (Wagner 2005).
  • Silver-spotted Skipper caterpillars feed on a wide variety of plants including Black Locust trees (Robinia pseudoacacia) and plants in the Pea family (Fabaceae) like:
    • Bush Clover (Lespedza spp.)
    • False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa)
    • Kudzu (Pueraria montana)
    • Groundnut (Apios americana)
    • Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens)
    • Spurred Butterfly Pea (Centrosema virginianum)
  • Wisteria and Kudzu are both non-native, invasive plants in North Carolina. Both may be used as food sources by Silver-spotted Skipper caterpillars, with Kudzu preferred over Wisteria. However, both seem to provide less nutrition than native Black Locust trees (Rosenwald et al. 2017).

Chrysalises

  • Chrysalises are shades of brown and hidden in leaf litter (Pyle 1981).