Least Skipper - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Butterfly: Wingspan: ¾ - 1 inch (1.9 - 2.5 cm) UPPER SURFACE (dorsal) Forewing dark, sometimes with orange patch in center. Hindwing orange with broad dark edge. No stigma. UNDER SURFACE (ventral) Forewing orange at tip and at leading edge. Hindwing orange; paler at center. Abdomen orange with dark stripe on top. Antennae short and checkered. Underparts whitish. Male abdomen much longer and slimmer.

Egg: Shiny pale yellow when laid. Becomes peachy with an irregularly patterned red ring.

Caterpillar: Green with numerous tiny yellow dots; faint dark line down back. Head light tan with chestnut stripe around edge and broad chestnut patch on face. Collar white with thin black ring. First three pairs of legs (thoracic) pale. Partially grown caterpillars overwinter.

Chrysalis: Pale yellow with brown head.

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Least Skippers are tiny inhabitants of many grassy, wetland habitats. Among Alabama’s skippers, only Southern Skipperlings are smaller. Leasts prefer damper habitats, but when overlaps occur, their rounder, less elongated shape and lack of a hindwing ray usually makes identification easy.

Least Skippers meander through vegetation with a bobbing, unhurried flight, typically flying no more than three feet above the ground. They nectar from small, low-growing flowers. Unlike many skippers, males patrol rather than perch to find unmated females and are often seen weaving through host grasses. Females place their yellow eggs singly on host grass blades. Within a day or so their color becomes peachy, and an orange/red ring develops. Eggs are so small that magnification is required to fully appreciate their beauty (see photo below). Caterpillars live in tubular shelters constructed from grass blades. Chrysalides are formed in a silken case within a grassy tube.

Least Skippers range through much of the eastern United States. In Alabama, they have multiple broods and occur in every county.

A dot on the county map indicates that there is at least one documented record of the species within that county. In some cases, a species may be common throughout the county, in others it may be found in only a specific habitat. The High Count information shows the highest numbers recorded for this species as well as when and where they occurred.

The sightings bar graphs depict the timing of flight(s) within each of three geographic regions. Place your cursor on a bar within the graph to see the number of individuals recorded during that period.

The abundance calendar displays the total number of individuals recorded within each week of the month. Both the graphs and the calendar are on based data collection that began in 2000.

The records analyzed here are only a beginning. As more data is collected, these maps and graphs will paint a more accurate picture of distribution and abundance in Alabama. Submit your sightings to albutterflyatlas@gmail.com.

Sightings in the following counties: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Choctaw, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, Dallas, DeKalb, Elmore, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Washington, Wilcox

Sightings in the past 5 years
Sightings in the past 5 - 10 years
Sightings more than 10 years ago

High count(s):

26 - Choctaw - 10/4/2020
22 - Jackson - 7/31/2021
18 - Baldwin - 9/10/2017

View county names by moving the mouse over a county or view a map with county names

Jan				Feb				Mar				Apr				May				Jun				Jul				Aug				Sep				Oct				Nov				Dec
1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
										2		10	8	14	13	18	18	27	26	18	32	43	48	35	27	20	95	35	46	20	80	55	77	54	62	38	19	6	6

Wet habitats with tall grasses including swamps; marshes; pond, stream, and lake edges; wet ditches; wet meadows.

Least Skipper (*Ancyloxypha numitor*)

County

© Sara Bright

Stream with grassy edges

Reports from nearby states list various grasses including bluegrasses (Poa spp.), Rice Cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides), Cultivated Rice (Oryza sativa), and Marsh Millet/Giant Cutgrass (Zizaniopsis milliacea).

The following have been verified in Alabama:

For more information about these plants, please visit the Alabama Plant Atlas using the links above.

Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor) Photos

Click on individual photos to view a larger version that includes photo credits, county, and date.
Photos with comments are indicated by a small, tan dot on the bottom right.