tropical checkered skipper
Hi there –
I didn’t notice this one in your nifty collection yet. This male tropical checkered skipper is actually rather small, only about an inch and a half across. Were it not for the ability to take a close photo, I’d never have identified it. There are lots of these around. This was taken in my back yard. The butterfly below the skipper, however, I have been unable to identify. It was a fast mover, and this was the only half decent photo I could get, on a bad angle, as you can see. It was perhaps the size of a cabbage butterfly. I wish I could have gotten a shot of it with wings open, but it was not to be. Any ideas?
Joanne Wilson
West Palm Beach, FL
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| Tropical Checkered Skipper | Sleepy Orange |
Hi Joanne,
Your letter represents two new species for us. The Tropical Checkered Skipper, Pyrgus oileus, is a southern species. According to our Butterflies through Binoculars Book by Jeffrey Glassberg: “You’ll need your close focusing binoculars and some patience to get good looks at these animals, but your efforts will be rewarded.” WE are almost certain your other butterfly is a Sleepy Orange, Eurema nicippe. The name sleepy does not refer to the flight which is quite frisky, though close to the ground. Sleepy refers to spots on the wings that resemble closed eyes. The food of the caterpillar is cassia.
big black moth?
Hi Bugman,
I am wondering if you can identify a bug for me? It is in a photo that a friend sent me from their trip to somewhere near Puerta Vallerta, Mexico. It looks like a large black luna moth (in shape). It has white markings on it’s forwings, and long trailing hindwings. I am attatching a photo, but it isn’t the graeatest. I’ve searched on line for the name of this insect, which I am assuming is a moth, and I can’t come up with anything. I’d be ecstatic if you could identify it for me!!
Thank you,
Lonna Stauffer
Hi Lonna,
This isn’t a moth, but a Longtailed Skipper, a butterfly in the family Hesperiidae that is sometimes referred to as an evolutionary group between butterflies and moths since they possess characteristics of both moths and butterflies. They are not large, despite the appearance in the photo. Longtail Skippers generally have a wingspan under two inches.
¶ Posted 30 January 2006 § ‡ ° Photos for your site
I have some photos of butterflies for your website. I see you don’t have these species.
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| Polydamus Swallowtail | Longtailed Skipper |
Thank you so much. The image you have labeled Spicebush Swallowtail is actually a Polydamus Swallowtail, Battus polydamas. The Longtailed Skipper is Urbanus proteus..
Hi again Daniel,
Here’s a shot of a couple of fiery skippers engaged in who knows what. I’m assuming the male on the right is checking the female to see if she is ready to mate. I never saw any mating going on. The female worked her way around the flower stopping now and then to vibrate her abdomen and wings with the male close behind. I’ve been seeing this behavior for several days and finally was able to get a shot of it. Photographed in Atlanta, GA on 8/6/05.
Bill DuPree
Atlanta, GA
Hi again Bill,
Your images are always such a treat. All you have to do is look and the money we spend on perfumes and colognes to know that scent is an aphrodesiac. Your Fiery Skippers are relying on natural pheromones as an aphrodesiac.
¶ Posted 07 August 2005 § ‡ ° Tagged: bug love Moth Query
Hi
Attached is a picture I took of a moth beside the ocean on mid Vancouver Island BC July 24th at 6:30 or so.. I have searched far and wide for a name. It is very hairy all over, and looks like it could be some kind of cousin to the Silkworm Moth, but appears quite a bit smaller. It is about 1 – 1.5 in long, and with a full wingspan, about 2 inches wide. It appears a bit more bronze than my picture in the full sun shows, but still orange enough to look tigerish. Can you identify it for me. Thanks, I love you website and refer to it often.
F. Hansen
Hi F.,
This isn’t a moth. It is a Skipper in the Family Hesperiidae. Skippers have some characteristics of both butterflies and moths. They get their common name from the rapid, direct, and bouncing flight. Positive identification of your specimen takes an expert in the family.
¶ Posted 26 July 2005 § ‡ ° moth?
We found this lovely moth in the barn. It poised just long enough for us to take a photo of it and then it flew away. I have looked in both butterflies and moths on your site and can not seem to find one that looks like it. Can you id it for us?
Yvonne Griffiths
North Central FL
Hi Yvonne,
You were not able to locate this Long-Tailed Skipper, Urbanus proteus, on our site because it is a new species for us. We are very happy you sent it in. Skippers are classified as butterflies, but they have enough differences to be considered a group of insect with characteristics of both butterflies and moths. The Long-Tailed Skipper is a southern insect and the larval food are plants in the legume group.
¶ Posted 02 January 2005 § ‡ ° Bugman,
Thanks for the quick reply on the beetle pic I sent out to you. It was interesting info… Now, I thought I would hit up your butterfly knowledge with this skipper sp. that me and my buddy have photographed at work. The shot is from Bradenton, Manatee County, Florida, which is just south of Tampa Bay. This skipper is typically seen on the edge of a small, usually wet wooded area next to our headquarters building. The best I could do with it was say it is a Grass Skipper…I am hoping that it may be possibly a Three-spotted Skipper or a Eufala Skipper, both of which, according to the NPWRC website would be first county records for Manatee County. I won’t be surprised when I get your reply that so-and-so butterfly expert will say this is a Sachem or some other common Skipper…
Thanks again,
Colin Gjervold
Sarasota, Fl
Hi Colin,
Sorry for the delay. Here is what I found out from Weiping at the Natural History Museum. This skipper is Cymaenes tripunctus.
¶ Posted 04 March 2004 § ‡ ° 
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