Byssus Skipper - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Butterfly: Wingspan: 1½ to 1¾ inches (3.6 - 4.6 cm). UPPER SURFACE (dorsal) Bright yellow orange ground color; wide dark borders. Male forewing has a small black V-shaped bar. Female forewing has wider borders; orange forms a semicircle of spots. UNDER SURFACE (ventral) Wings range from orange to yellow brown. Forewing has yellow spot band and short black vertical bar. Hindwing has yellow spot band and yellow veins. Wing fringe white/buffy. Antennal clubs almost all black.

Egg: A somewhat flattened hemisphere. White when laid, turning pinkish.

Caterpillar: Bluish green; covered with fine white hairs. Head white, narrowly edged with black; three black vertical stripes cross facial area. Young caterpillars have a black patch on posterior. Later instars have yellow wash on thorax and posterior. Heart line dark. Collar white at top, dark at back. First two pairs of legs (thoracic) darker than other two. Partially grown caterpillars overwinter.

Chrysalis: Initially shades of tan, eventually turning dark brown.

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These handsome skippers inhabit various types of grassy wetlands including coastal marshes. Despite their proclivity for damp habitats, they are most often encountered at nectar sources, which they may travel some distance to access. Males fly in a rapid skipping flight back and forth across their tall host plants trying to find freshly emerged females. Females have a more sluggish flight and rarely leave clumps of host grasses except to nectar.

Eggs are deposited singly on host grasses, turning from white to pale pink within 24 hours. Caterpillars use silk to tie blades together to form tubular shelters. They eat the upper part of the blades until eventually, a new shelter is required. The first generation’s final shelter is plugged with a thick wad of silk and the chrysalis is formed within it. Emergence occurs within two weeks. Partially grown caterpillars from the year's last brood plug their shelter and spend the winter within it, completing development in the spring.

Byssus Skippers occur in the across the Southeast as well as in parts of the central U.S. In Alabama, populations are widespread and colonial.

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: Baldwin, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Hale, Lamar, Macon, Marion, Perry, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington

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

High count(s):

35 - Bibb - 8/25/2013
30 - Bibb - 8/14/2022
26 - Washington - 8/14/2020

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
																		4	8	16	21	5	1		3		1	15	76	48	115	16	5	5	6

Wetlands and marshy areas.

Byssus Skipper (*Problema byssus*)

County

© Sara Bright

Wet meadow

Reports from nearby states indicate that Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides), plume grasses (Saccharum spp.), Slender Wood oats (Chasmanthium laxum), and the invasive Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) as used as hosts. Other grasses are also suspected.

In Alabama, host plants have not yet been documented.

Byssus Skipper (Problema byssus) 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.