Making Sense Spreadwing of the Skippers Skippers

• Plain orange below • Sootywings Making More Sense of the • The “witches” • Cloudywings Skippers • The “gang of 4” • Duskywings • Tawny edges • Checkered Skippers

Making More Sense…. 1. Skippers with “frosted” wings ….more subgroups! 1. Skippers with “frosted” wings • Predominantly black 2. Skippers with large yellow patches • Frosting is lighter scaling on the outer 3. “Bikini” skippers margin of the hindwing below (yellow patches in 2 pieces) • Two species 4. Skippers with chevrons 5. Autumn (or late summer) skippers 6. Miscellaneous (just 2!)

Common Roadside Dusted Skipper Amblyscirtes vialis Atrytonopsis hianna • Small (by skipper standards) • Biggish (by skipper standards) • Relatively uncommon in Illinois • Rare in Illinois • Likes barrens • Likes sandy areas • Main flight is early (May) • Flies May into June • Small summer brood • Reported from 2 IBMN sites only (Iroquois • Primarily seen south of Chicago and Thompson-Fulton Sand Prairie) • Host plants big and little bluestem

1 2. Skippers with large yellow patches hobomok • Medium size skippers • A savanna/oak woodland species • Predominant color below is brown • Flies in spring (May/June) • Above, typical orange/brown skippers • Host plant: Switchgrass, other grasses • Nearly half to most of the hindwing below is yellow • Two species • Both species have dark form females

Zabulon Skipper is more Poanes zabulon southerly than Hobomok • An edge species • Two generations: May and August • More southerly than Hobomok • Host plant: Love Grass, other grasses

Hobomok Zabulon

Long Dash (Mystic Skipper) 3. “Bikini” Skippers Polites mystic • Yellow patches on hindwings below are in • Found in sedge meadows two distinct pieces • Often in same places as “gang of four” • One yellow patch is at the base of the • Flies in June (earlier than other sedge hindwing meadow skippers) • There may be a small connection to the • Seems less common than other sedge larger, distal patch in some individuals meadow skippers • Host plants poorly known. Grasses including

2 Peck’s (Yellowpatch) Skipper 4. Chevron Skippers Polites coras • Not remnant-reliant. Fairly widespread. • Two species • Multiple generations through summer • Both show pale chevrons on a tan • Host plants are numerous grass species background including rice cut grass • Easily separated by flight time

Indian Skipper Sachem Hesperia sassacus Atalopedes campestrtis • Rare in Illinois • Not resident, migrates in each year • To date, only reported from Iroquois • Arrives late in season (mid-August on) • Flies in late spring (May-mid June) • May not breed at all this far north • Host plants: grasses including Panicum and • Host plant crabgrass Little Bluestem • Not remnant-reliant

5. Autumn or Late Summer Fiery Skipper Skippers Hylephila phyleus • Sachem could be in this group • Not resident, migrates in each year • Two additional species, one migrant and • Very widespread (present in Chicago parks) one resident • Typically arrives in late summer • They look nothing alike- the grouping is • Feeds on many weedy grasses due to flight time only • Only local skipper with dark spots on a light background

3 Leonard’s Skipper 6. Miscellaneous Skippers Hesperia leonardus • Rare in Illinois • They don’t fit with any other group • Found in dry savannas • Both are important prairie species • Host plant is switchgrass • Found in Palos area

Two-spotted Skipper Byssus Skipper Euphyes bimacula Problema byssus • Uncommon in Illinois • Found in mesic prairies • Found in moist prairies with sedges • Flies early summer • Flies June into July • Host plant a grass- but the only listed • Host plant reported to be Carex trichocarpa species doesn’t grow in Illinois

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