Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site

Hesperiidae

The skippers are a worldwide family of about 3500 species that appear to be "sister" to the rest of the "true butterflies". The clubs on the tips of the antennae are usually hooked. Our California skippers fall into two or three subfamilies: the spread-wing skippers (Pyrginae), the folded-wing skippers (Hesperiinae), and the Heteropterinae.

The spread-winged skippers are generally dark brown and hold both sets of their wings open when landed. They use a wide variety of hostplants, including oaks, Ceanothus, legumes, mallows, and even saltbush. California genera include Pyrgus, Heliopetes, Erynnis, Thorybes, Epargyreus, and Pholisora.

The folded-wing skippers have a characteristic posture when they land: the forewings are held at a 45o angle to the rest of the body while the hindwing is held open and flat. This gives them a "fighter-jet" like appearance. They are largely orange and tawny, and many have whitish chevrons on the ventral hindwing, although some genera are dark brown. All members of this group feed on grasses or grassy-like plants (like sedges and rushes) as caterpillars, and as a result, they are often called the grass skippers. California genera include Hesperia, Ochlodes, Polites, Poanes, Hylephila, Lerodea, Amblyscirtes, and Atalopedes.

A third subfamily, the Heteropterinae, is weakly differentiated from the other skipper subfamilies, but the lone California representative is distinctive: Carterocephalus palaemon.

	Amblyscirtes vialis Roadside Skipper
	Atalopedes campestris Field Skipper, Sachem
	Carterocephalus palaemon Arctic Skipper
	Epargyreus clarus Silver-Spotted Skipper
	Erynnis brizo lacustra Sleepy Dusky-Wing, Leather Oak Dusky-Wing
	Erynnis funeralis Funereal Dusky-Wing
	Erynnis icelus Dreamy Dusky-Wing
	Erynnis pacuvius Pacuvius Duskywing, Grinnell's Duskywing
	Erynnis persius Persius Dusky-Wing
	Erynnis propertius Propertius Dusky-Wing
	Erynnis tristis Mournful Dusky-Wing, Sad Dusky-Wing
	Heliopetes ericetorum Northern White Skipper
	Hesperia colorado harpalus West Slope Colorado Skipper
	Hesperia colorado idaho East Slope Colorado Skipper
	Hesperia colorado ssp. Serpentine Colorado Skipper
	Hesperia colorado tildeni Tilden's Skipper
	Hesperia columbia Columbian Skipper
	Hesperia juba Yuba Skipper
	Hesperia lindseyi Lindsey's Skipper
	Hesperia nevada Nevada Skipper
	Hylephila phyleus Fiery Skipper
	Lerodea eufala Eufala Skipper
	Ochlodes agricola The Farmer, Rural Skipper
	Ochlodes sylvanoides Woodland Skipper
	Ochlodes yuma Yuma Skipper
	Pholisora catullus Common Sooty-Wing
	Poanes melane Umber Skipper
	Polites sabuleti sabuleti Sandhill Skipper
	Polites sabuleti ssp. "Verdi" Sandhill Skipper
	Polites sabuleti tecumseh Tecumseh Skipper
	Polites sonora Sonoran Skipper
	Pyrgus communis Common Checkered Skipper
	Pyrgus ruralis Two-Banded Skipper
	Pyrgus scriptura Small Checkered Skipper, Least Checkered Skipper
	Thorybes diversus Western Cloudy-Wing
	Thorybes mexicana nevada Nevada Cloudy-Wing
	Thorybes pylades Northern Cloudy-Wing