Southern Skipperling - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Butterfly: Wingspan: ½ - ¾ inches (1.3 - 1.9 cm). Tiny. The underside of both wings is orange, with a distinctive white line running through the middle of the wing from the base of the hindwing to the outer margin of the wing. The upperside of both wings is mostly orange with the male having a small stigma on the forewing; the female has black along the medial costal margin of the forewing.

Egg: Whitish eggs are laid singly on grasses. Eggs are often positioned on the top side of the blade.

Caterpillar:Light green with white frosting; darker green stripe down baacl and numerous paler stripes, top two wide. Head green and rounded. Collar indistinct. First three pairs of legs (thoracic) pale.

Chrysalis: Green; darker near head area. Pale stripes along side. Sharp whitish projection protruding from the head.

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This very tiny orange butterfly is the smallest skipper in North America. Southern Skipperling has an erratic flight as it skims over and amongst low vegetation and grasses. It often stops to perch on grass blades or to nectar from small, low-growing flowers. Males patrol during morning hours to search for females. Perching males defend their territories and may be seen swirling with other males. Females are less visible and deposit single eggs on the blades of Bermuda Grass, often positioning them on the top side of the blade. The caterpillars' green coloring and horizontal stripes help to camouflage them on their grassy hosts. Unlike most skipper larvae, they do not make leaf shelters during their development, living exposed on the grass.

Where habitats overlap, Southern Skipperlings may sometimes be seen flying along with Least Skippers, a slightly larger species. While superficially similar in appearance, Southern Skipperling's distinctive hindwing ray sets it apart. It's flight pattern is quick and darting rather than weak and bobbing like Least Skipper's.

By summer's end, Southern Skipperlings are found throughout much of the southern United States. In Alabama, they probably 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, Calhoun, Chambers, Choctaw, Cullman, Dallas, Escambia, Etowah, Hale, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lee, Macon, Marengo, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Washington, Winston

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

High count(s):

45 - Jefferson - 9/12/1999
35 - Jefferson - 9/4/1999
25 - Jefferson - 5/1/1999

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
										1	1	1	1	2	2	29	3	5	16	4	29	6	53	17	85	41	82	47	47	35	10	48	69	43	22	11	27	4	5	11	9

Open grassy areas, short-growth fields, lawns, vacant lots, savannas. It may occasionally visit suburban flower gardens.

Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon) is the most commonly mentioned host for Southern Skipperlings, and it has been documented in Alabama.

Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon) - Host Plant

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

If you have a lawn in your landscape, consider letting it be natural. The diverse assemblage of native and nonnative flowering plants and grasses typically found in naturalized lawns provides nectar and host sources for many small butterflies including Southern Skipperlings.

Southern Skipperling (Copaeodes minima) 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.