Wildflower Archive

Nash Turley · CC BY (iNaturalist)

Pollinator

Silver-spotted skipper

Epargyreus clarus

The most recognizable skipper, flashing a silver splash beneath.

Family: Hesperiidae (skippers)
Wingspan: 1.75 to 2.6 in (4.5 to 6.7 cm)
Flight season: Spring to fall
Range: Across the United States and southern Canada
Caterpillar food: Legumes (locust, wisteria, tick-trefoils)
Conservation: Secure and widespread

The silver-spotted skipper is the most recognizable of North America's many skippers, a large brown butterfly with a gold patch above and an unmistakable silver-white splash beneath each hindwing.

A fast, darting flier, it visits flowers in gardens, fields, and edges but tends to avoid yellow blooms, preferring blue, red, and pink.

Silver-spotted skipper caterpillar — The yellow-bodied, big-headed caterpillar shelters in folded legume leaves. Judy Gallagher · CC BY-SA (iNaturalist)

Caterpillars feed on legumes such as black locust, wisteria, and tick-trefoils, living in a shelter of folded leaves.

Sources

Butterflies and Moths of North America ↗
iNaturalist ↗
Plant associations from GloBI flower-visit records and NPIN larval-host data. Butterfly photographs via iNaturalist (CC BY).