Skipper Butterflies

     Occasionally I walk along the grassy shoulders of country roadsides in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland during August and September to experience lovely wild flowers, grasshoppers and other interesting living beings in those long strips of vegetation between blacktop and fields.  And I do see pretty flowers, a few kinds of birds, leaping grasshoppers and other types of insects, including a few species of attractive, lively skipper butterflies that zip low over the grass of roadside shoulders in some abundance when I approach them on foot.
     Skippers are intriguing and beautiful insects in several ways.  They have a quick, darting flight pattern that attracts attention, even though most species of skippers have one and a half inch wing spans or less.  When perched, their front two wings are swept-back and held upright at a 45 degree angle, while their back two wings are held flatly, making them resemble tiny jet fighter airplanes.  When examined closely, one will notice that they have stout, furry bodies of attractive, camouflaging colors.  And they have a large, dark eye on each side of the head that looks soulful, like the eyes of white-tailed deer and eastern bluebirds.  Those intriguing, beautiful eyes are the skippers' most appealing feature.
     Most of the 30 plus skipper species in open, sunny habitats in Pennsylvania look pretty much alike, showing their close ancestry to each other.  Only slight differences distinguish skipper species, here and throughout much of the warmer parts of the world where they live.
     The larvae of most skipper species are smooth-skinned, with camouflaging patterns on those colored skins.  Some larvae, like those of silver-spotted skippers, have two light-orange dots on their maroon heads; spots that look like eyes!
     The caterpillars of most skippers ingest grass and sedge that grow along rural roadsides in this area, and elsewhere across much of the United States.  Those plants are why these small butterflies stay close to country road edges.  Female skippers lay eggs on grass and sedge, the only foods of their youngsters.  These skipper larvae don't cause damage because roadside grass is mowed occasionally.       Silver-spotted skippers are the largest, darkest species of skipper in Lancaster County.  They acquired that name because of the white blotch on each fore-wing that looks like a bit of white paint splattered on those wings. 
     Silver-spot caterpillars feed on bean plant foliage, including that of soybeans.  I, however, have never seen damage in any soybean crop in this area because those skippers have not become overwhelmingly common.
     Some skipper caterpillars of various species are eaten by a variety of adaptable, common creatures.  They include striped skunks, short-tailed shrews, a small variety of field birds, garter snakes, two kinds of toads, spiders and praying mantises.      
     Skippers of various kinds are lovely, interesting additions to rural roadside fauna.  Watch for them if walking along country roads during August and September.