Skippers

Long-tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus).  

This large skipper has blue hairs on the body and the hindwing

has the long extensions that gives this skipper it its name.

Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina. 

 

Skippers are an unusual group of butterflies.  They are smaller than the more impressive Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) and Swallowtails (Papilio sp.).  Skippers have hairy bodies and many have short, triangular wings. They are usually subtly colored with brown predominant and can be difficult to identify.  However, they are a diverse group with about 275 species in North America and are abundant in many locations.  The name skipper comes from their rapid flight as they skip between nectar bearing flowers.  The antennae of skippers are unique in the butterfly world with a club on the end that bears a hook. This blog will examine a handful of the skippers found in North Carolina and South Carolina.   

Long-tailed Skipper.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

The Common Checkered Skipper (Burnsius communis) is strikingly patterned 

with black-and-white checks on the wings.  The antennae of the 

this butterfly continues the color scheme with

alternating black-and-white bands. 

Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus).  

The underside of this skipper's wings have large gold and silver spots.  

Rowan County, North Carolina

Horace’s Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) is a medium-sized 

skipper with mottled brown wings.  The forewings have

 five white spots near their ends. 

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  

Horace's Duskywing.
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

The Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) is a small, and quite common skipper.  

It is brown with bright orange on the wings.  

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

Fiery Skippers mating.  

This slipper has small brown spots on the underside of their wings.

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

Rowan County, North Carolina.

Delaware Skippers (Anatrytone logan) 

are bright orange with dark brown on the wings. 

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.   

The Sachem (Atalopedes campestris) is yet another 

orange skipper with brown on the wings.  

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

Dun Skippers (Euphyes vestris) are small and plain 

brown with white patches on the wings.

Rowan County, North Carolina. 

The Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola) is another brown skipper
but in this one the forewings extend past the hindwings.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Eufaula Skipper (Lerodea eufala) is still another 

small brown skipper with white spots on the wings.  

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

The Zabulon Skipper (Lon zabulon)

 is one more small orange and brown skipper.

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  

While skipper butterflies can be difficult to identify, Americans of a certain age have no trouble identifying The Skipper, Alan Hale Jr.  He starred in Gilligan’s Island, perhaps the silliest sitcom of the sixties, wherein a group of castaways are stranded on a tropical island.  Alan Hale Jr. was a journeyman character actor and the son Alan Hale Sr., a journeyman character actor of a previous generation.  Alan Hale Jr’s Skipper was the straight man for the zany Gilligan and the glue that held the show together.  So, all hale the Skipper and all the little skippers flying around out there. 

Alan Hale Jr. The Skipper.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Hale_Jr.#/media/File:Alan_Hale_Jr._Gilligans_Island_1966.JPG

Thanks to Ron Clark for assistance in identifying skippers.