Florida Butterfly Photos - Skippers
by Will Cook
Here's a selection of Lepidoptera images from a trip to south Florida, June 22-29, 2010. All photos were taken using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50, most with the addition of a Sony VCL-M3358 close-up lens.
Papilionidae and Pieridae | Lycaenidae | Nymphalidae | Hesperiidae | Moths
Hesperiidae - Skippers
Pyrginae - Spread-wing Skippers
| Mangrove Skipper (Phocides pigmalion) Mangrove Skipper is a large skipper of shady coastal hammocks in the southern 2/3 of Florida, where its host plant, the Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), grows. They usually perch flat on the undersides of leaves (this photo was taken looking up from below the leaf). |
| Mangrove Skipper (Phocides pigmalion) Mangrove Skipper caterpillars are also stunning: ruby-red with yellow-orange stripes. They weave together mangrove leaves with silk to form a shelter (here opened in order to take the photo). |
| Hammock Skipper (Polygonus leo) Hammock Skipper is a large skipper found in the shady understory of hammocks. They normally perch on the undersides of leaves, with wings folded. The undersides are slightly purplish, especially in the camera's flash. |
| Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes) Dorantes Longtail is common in southern Florida, Texas, and Arizona. Vagrants may wander further north, as far North Carolina, Missouri, and northern California. The tails are long on fresh individuals, but wear off fairly quickly. |
| Florida Duskywing (Ephyriades brunnea) |
| Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) |
| Zarucco Duskywing (Erynnis zarucco) Zarucco Duskywing is a butterfly of dry, hot, sandy areas. This is a female. |
| Tropical Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus oileus) |
Hesperiinae - Grass Skippers
| Three-spotted Skipper (Cymaenes tripunctus) Three-spotted Skipper is named for the three small translucent spots you can see near the tip of the forewing (not the best name). In the US, this species is found only in south Florida, though the overall range is from the West Indies to South America. |
| Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius) |
| Baracoa Skipper (Polites baracoa) This small skipper, which is mainly confined to Florida in the US, has a nice contrasting tawny edge to the forewing like its relative, the Tawny-edged Skipper, but with a distinctive band of pale spots on the hindwing. |
| Southern Broken-Dash (Wallengrenia otho) |
| Monk Skipper (Asbolis capucinus) Monk Skipper is a large, dark fold-winged skipper that often perches still on low vegetation (and thus is very easy to photograph). The host plants are various species of palms. Monk Skippers are named capucinus for their resemblance to Capuchin monks — at least in the color of their vestments. These same monks also lend their name to cappuccino and capuchin monkeys. |
| Brazilian Skipper (Calpodes ethlius) Brazilian Skipper caterpillars are very strange looking, with see-through skin. Alana Edwards says this one is a male — you can tell by the two yellow spots on top near the middle, which are gonads beneath the surface of the see-through skin! |
| Obscure Skipper (Panoquina panoquinoides) This denizen of salt marshes is related to the Salt Marsh Skipper, which has a white streak instead of Obscure's three white dots (one single, two paired). The lower two dots on this one are a bit obscure, I must admit. |
| Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola) Near Florida City, Miami-Dade Co., FL 6/28/2010. |
Papilionidae and Pieridae | Lycaenidae | Nymphalidae | Hesperiidae | Moths
Comments? Questions? E-mail me at cwcook@duke.edu