The Skippers are a subset of the butterflies. They tend to be smaller, more subdued in color pattern (orange, browns, and blacks), to have stockier bodies, and shorter, more triangular wings (which gives them terrifically fast flight: birds don't even try to catch them). Many are so similar to each other they offer real identification problems. They are like shorebirds to bird watchers: When you are a beginner, you dread them; with more experience you begin to love them for the challenge.
They come in two groups: the Spread-wing Skippers, as here, which land with their wings out flat, or straight up over their back. And the Grass Skippers, which hold their wings differently, and will be dealt with in a separate album. In general, the spread-wing skippers are larger than the grass skippers. This one here is the Silver-spotted Skipper, one of the commonest spread-wing skippers, though you seldom see it from this aspect.
Usually you see the Silver-spotted Skipper with its wings closed, when the mark on the underside of its hind wing makes its name obvious.
Here is the typical shape for a skipper caterpillar, featuring a thin neck followed by a bulbous head. The two yellow pretending eyes mark this as the caterpillar of the Silver-spotted Skipper, usually to be found rolled up inside a leaf on a legume.
Here is a very rare spread-wing on Crowley's Ridge, the Long-tailed Skipper. Its name is just as obvious, and the long tails and the bluish body make it unmistakable.
We are lucky to see a Long-tailed Skipper in the yard once every few years.
This is the Hoary Edge. It's fairly common on Crowley's Ridge. From above it looks similar to the Silver-spotted.
But from below, instead of the silver spot being centered on the hind wing, it is on the trailing edge.
Next comes a threesome of Cloudywings, and they can be difficult to separate. This one is the Northern Cloudywing. The white spots on the plain brown body are usually restricted in size. This is as large as they get.
If you can see the head from below, the face is dingy gray or brown, and this is diagnostic for the Northern Cloudywing.
The Southern Cloudywing, on the other hand, has big bold white spots in a straight line. The second spot down from the margin is often in the shape of an hourglass.
Additionally, the Southern Cloudywing has white at the base of the antennal clubs, a white outline around the eyes, and, differing most obviously from the Northern Cloudywing, a white face.
Now it gets tricky. The third species is the well named Confused Cloudywing. It sometimes has reduced spotting, like the Northern, or, as here, bold spotting, like the Southern. But notice here: It has the second spot shaped like an hourglass, but the rest of the spots do not form a line, but are scrambled. Also note, the lowest spot on the inner side is not a spot but a thin line. That's also a feature of the Confused, though it is not always present. In addition, the bases of the antennal clubs are not white, as they are on the Southern.
This Confused Cloudywing has the spots so reduced they are almost absent.
Here is a Confused with marking very much like a Northern, but the inside spot of the three lower spots is absent, or, as can barely be seen on the closest, out-of-focus wing, appears as a very thin line, a Confused feature.
In doubtful cases when you are trying to decide between Northern and Confused, again try to see the face: Brown in Northern, white or at least pale, as you can see in this Confused.
This is the tiny little Hayhurst's Scallopwing. It almost invariably lands absolutely flat, and is about the size and shape of half of a postage stamp. In good light it is covered with flecks of gold.
Hayhurst's Scallopwing
Keen butterfly watchers think the season has finally started in earnest when the first skippers appear. Almost invariably that first skipper is this one: Juvenal's Duskywing. The duskywings can be very difficult to identify. Most often it involves scrutinizing the four subapical white spots (just before the outside corner of the forewing), the cell-end spot (the single spot just a little bit towards the body from the subapical spots), and the marking on the hind wings. Luckily this Juvenal's male is easy to identify: his front wings are covered with tiny silvery-white hairs (click on the magnifying glass). This feature is only found on Juvenal's.
This is the Juvenal's Duskywing female, which will be an easier model to study the various spots on. Duskywing females have much bolder spotting than the males. About midway along the leading edge of the forewing a black blaze comes down, and in the middle of that is the pale cell-end spot. It is usually fairly prominent in Juvenal's Duskywing. Now go to the preapical four spots: the topmost is much smaller than the others, and located inward. This is fairly consistent in Juvenal's. The hindwing marking is wavy, alternating lines of small dark spots, and small light spots.
If any doubt exists that you are looking at a Juvenal's, try to get a glimpse of the underside. Juvenal's has two obvious close-together white spots on the underwing which are diagnostic.
A little later than Juvenal's, Horace's Duskywing arrives, and now you have to separate these two from each other. Horace's does not have the silver overscaling on the front wing, so looks darker. It similarly has a strong cell-end spot, but does not have a noticeably smaller top preapical spot, and has the four spots bolder and blockier. The hindwing marking is generally a single straight line of larger round black spots.
This is the female Horace's. Note again the blockier, more equal-sized preapical spots, the line of round black spots on the hindwing. And you can make out here another Horace's feature: You can just see that the back half of the eyes are outlined in white. Juvenal's does not have this.
Juvenal's and Horace's Duskywing caterpillars both feed on oak and look just alike. They usually live inside a folded leaf. This one has snuck out for a little snack.
Note the bulbous head, thin neck, and bag-like body of the typical skipper caterpillar.
This is Wild Indigo Duskywing. It features, generally no cell-end spot. In fact, the entire inner half of fore- and hind wings tends to be unmarked black. The preapical spots are diminished and the fourth one down tends to be displaced outwards. Just inward from the preapical spots there is a slightly paler brown patch. There is almost no marking on the hindwing except for a few small white spots.
Here is another Wild Indigo. Like the Horace's, it tends to have the back half of the eyes outlined in white.
Another Wild Indigo. This one has a bit of a cell-end spot, and apparently a white collar. I have shown a lot of well marked duskywings here, but the truth is, many of the identifying characters are inconsistent, and I personally see lots of duskywings I am not sure I can put a name on. Once they become worn, I don't even look at them.
This one anyway is easy: A black duskywing with a bright white hind-wing fringe will be Funereal Duskywing, an occasional wanderer to Crowley's Ridge from farther west
Also easy to identify is another common early arriving dusky, the Sleepy Duskywing. It has no cell-end or preapical spots, indeed, no spots at all. Instead it has a gray chain-like pattern on the forewing.
This is the female Sleepy Duskywing.
Sleepy Duskywing.
Look at the pattern on these Sleepy Duskywings. Spreadwing Skippers are easy to overlook, but they have really beautiful colors and markings.
The Common Checkered Skipper is a small pretty brown-and-white skipper with a busy pattern.
Common Checkered Skipper, female.
Here is the male Common Checkered Skipper, with a bit more white in the pattern.
The fourteenth and last spreadwing-skipper we have seen on Crowley's Ridge is the small, but very handsome, Common Sootywing. The sure way to identify this little beauty is to notice the cluster of white spots on top of the head. The album "Other Arkansas Butterflies" has additional spreadwing skipper species.
