Skipper butterfly eggs are
tiny, usually less than .1mm. Most skipper caterpillars are green and
tapered, and the neck appears constricted. The caterpillars weave silk
and leaves into a daytime shelter for protection. Most pupate in loosely
woven cocoons. The chrysalises are often coated with a powder, or bloom,
much like many dragonflies.
Chrysalis and caterpillars may overwinter.
Skipper butterflies
can be divided into five subfamilies:- Pyrginae, or spread-wing
skippers. These butterflies bask with their wings spread open flat,
although there are a few that sit with the wings folded over their
back. The cloudy wings sit with their wings partly open. Most
spreadwings are patterned in gray, black and white. Caterpillars
feed on many different types of plants, especially legumes.
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Grass Skippers, subfamily Hesperiinae constitute the largest
grouping, and perhaps the most challenging for those seeking to
identify specimens. They are smaller than the spread-wing skippers,
and many are patterned with yellow, orange and black. These erratic
flyers sit with their forewings and hind wings at different angles -
I think the configuration resembles an F-15 Eagle fighter jet. Grass
skipper larvae feed mostly on ... guess what? Yep. Grasses.
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Giant Skippers, subfamily Megathyminae includes the largest
skippers. These are rare butterflies, even where there host plants,
the Agaves and Yuccas are common. They are very fast and powerful
flyers.
- Skipperlings, subfamily Heteropterinae includes only
a handful of small species living in the north and west. They lack
the narrow extension (apiculus) of the antenna club. Many
skipperlings sit with the wings open flat. They are often lumped
into the grass skipper family. Note: Some skippers are called
skipperlings but do not actually belong to this subfamily.
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Firetips, subfamily Pyrrhopyginae. Only one species of this mainly
subtropical group inhabits North America: the Atraxes skipper.
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