Big-Eyed Butterflies

     Every summer, I commonly see a couple of species of skipper butterflies here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  I see brownish silver-spotted skippers among a variety of blossoms in flower gardens, particularly on butterfly bushes and bee balms.  And I notice yellowish least skippers, sometimes in abundance, flitting low among grasses and weeds along rural roadsides.
     Skippers, as a branch of butterflies, are different than other kinds of butterflies.  There are about 3,500 kinds of skippers worldwide, mostly in the tropics, and they all have several characteristics in common, revealing their common ancestry.  Some people think skippers are a cross between butterflies and moths, but skippers are strictly butterflies, with a different set of traits.  All skipper species have stout abdomens, are furry all over and have small wings for their body size.  When these butterflies are at rest, their wings are swept back like jet planes and the fore wings are held up at a 45 degree angle while the rear ones are held flat.  With those wings, skippers have a quick, darting flight from flower to flower, giving this branch of butterflies its common name.  All skippers sip nectar from the blooms they visit. 
     But their large, dark eyes are not only a distinctive trait of this family of butterflies, but their most beautiful and appealing features.  That and their fast flight are their two most unique characteristics.  Skippers have huge eyes for the sizes of their bodies, reminding me of the attractive, dark eyes of a white-tailed deer, flying squirrel or white-footed mouse.
     There are two major branches of skippers.  Species in the one division are basically brown, like silver-spotted skippers in the eastern United States.  Silver-spotted skippers have a two-inch wing span and are brown with pale-orange markings and a large, white blotch on each front wing.  Their larvae are yellowish-green with brown heads and two orange spots on the head.  Those orange spots are fake eyes that serve to intimidate birds and other would-be predators.  Those larvae eat leguminous plants, including soybean leaves.       
     Species of skippers in the other, larger, branch are small and mostly yellowish with brown markings.  The different types of skippers in this division are difficult to identify.  Least skippers, that live in the northeastern United States, have a one inch wing span and live in abundance among grasses and weeds along country roads and in moist meadows in my region.  The caterpillars of least skippers are green, with brownish heads.  They eat grasses and sedges on damp ground.
     Skippers are unique and interesting kinds of butterflies.  They add to the beauty and intrigue of Earth.  Look for them in flower gardens and along farmland roads.