One of the rarest butterflies in North Carolina, this distinctive skipper is known from only a few locations.

On 6/18/06 Ted Wilcox and I discovered a colony of them in a wetland in Alleghany Co., NC. We counted an amazing 16 this day -- a record high count for the species in the state. This is the first record from the North Carolina mountains -- an extension of the northern population, which occurs from the Virginia mountains northward.

Different individual.

Alleghany Co., NC 6/18/06.

They are found in wet areas with sedges (their host plant) - we saw three in a wet powerline cut through young second-growth forest, nectaring on Viburnum nudum.

Harnett Co., NC 6/5/05.

The most distinctive thing about these dark brown butterflies is the white line along the body on the edge of the hindwing. "Two-spotted Skipper" is an exceptionally poor common name, derived from the specific epithet "bimacula", which means two-spotted. Females have two pale spots above, but so do a number of other skippers. A better name would be something like White-lined Skipper.

Harnett Co., NC 6/5/05.

Harnett Co., NC 6/5/05.

This very worn individual might be tough to identify withough the distinctive white line on the hindwing.

Harnett Co., NC 6/5/05.

This female is ovipositing on a sedge (Carex sp.).

Alleghany Co., NC 6/18/06.

Alleghany Co., NC 7/1/06.

Alleghany Co., NC 7/1/06.

I discovered this one at an unexpected location along the Blue Ridge Parkway, near the crest of a ridge 100 yards or more from the nearest sedgey wetland.

Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 213, Grayson Co., VA 6/18/06.

On this female (same individual as above) you can see the two spots for which the skipper was named.

Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 213, Grayson Co., VA 6/18/06.

On June 10, 2007 I returned to the area to search for nearby sedge fields that might have Two-spotted Skippers. I hit the jackpot, finding 28 on National Park Service land (22 in one field alone), including the five pictured here.

Grayson Co., VA 6/10/07.

Grayson Co., VA 6/10/07.

Grayson Co., VA 6/10/07.

Grayson Co., VA 6/10/07.

Grayson Co., VA 6/10/07.