Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Most people who encounter Brazilian Skippers find their caterpillars eating garden canna leaves and may never see the adult butterfly.  This is partly due to the fact that these large skippers are somewhat crepuscular--flying at twilight.  They are powerful aerialists whose wings make a rasping noise as they dart among stands of cannas and nectar sources.  Adults may perch momentarily on a leaf and then dart off with a fast, powerful flight.  They often return throughout the day to individual flowers along a pre-planned route. This is called traplining. Brazilian Skippers have exceptionally long tongues (proboscices) that allow them to nectar at morning glories and other long-tubed flowers.

Young larvae cut two slits into the edge of a leaf, fold over that portion to form a flap, and secure it with silk to form a shelter.  Larger, more mature caterpillars roll an entire leaf and tie it together with strands of silk. This creates a tubular retreat in which the caterpillar rests/hides during much of the day. The caterpillar leaves the security of its shelter at night to feed on the leaf portion along the top of its shelter.

The Brazilian Skipper is expected to occur at least in the southern half of the state. Its northern range is yet to be determined. In the U. S., the Brazilian Skipper is a year-round resident of south Florida and south Texas.  It is basically a subtropical to tropical species extending into Mexico, the West Indies, Central America and South America.  However, under favorable conditions, it strays north and colonizes California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, Nebraska, northern Illinois, Ohio, New York, as well as the Atlantic and Gulf coastal states.