Alabama Butterfly Atlas

The Reversed Roadside-Skipper is an example of a butterfly species whose host plant is common and widespread, while it is not. Loss of specialized wetland habitats is cause for concern when considering its population dynamics. The open, caney wetlands that it requires have often fallen victim to draining, development, spraying, and unchecked succession.  These wetlands are typically fire-dependent, so it is no coincidence that one of Alabama's known RRS sites is at Splinter Hill Bog, which the Nature Conservancy manages with periodic, planned, rotating burns.

Reversed Roadside-Skippers are typical of the roadside-skipper genus (Amblyscirtes). Like the others, they are multi-brooded: in our area; there are probably three flights.  Eggs are laid singly on cane leaves, and caterpillars make aerial nests by rolling leaf blades into tubes.  At maturity, the caterpillar silks itself into the tube, clips it from the plant, attaches it to a secure location on the ground. Using tooth-like structures near its mouth, the caterpillar pulls itself and the leaf tube to a satisfactory location and lightly silks the leaf in place. It pupates, head up, within the shelter. Fully mature caterpillars overwinter within the shelter, pupating and emerging the following spring.  Both sexes nectar from small flowers.  It is possible that adults may be somewhat crepuscular, which could contribute to the extremely low number of sightings.

The Reversed Roadside-Skipper was established as a species in the 1973. For many years, it had been classified as a different color form of the Carolina Roadside-Skipper (a species that has not been documented in Alabama). The original describer noted that he had a skipper whose hindwing background was dark with light markings while the Carolina R-S had a lighter background with dark markings.  He dubbed the new species Amblyscirtes reversa or "Reversed" Roadside-Skipper.

These skippers are localized and rarely encountered throughout their range.  There are disjunct populations in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia as well as the Gulf Coast states of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. The NatureServe Global Conservation Status Rank is G3 (Vulnerable). 

* Although we do not have access to specific dates and numbers, Marc Minno discovered a few colonies of Reversed Roadside-Skippers in Baldwin County in 2001 (Rare, Declining, and Poorly Known Butterflies and Moths of Forests and Woodlands in the Eastern United States, 2011).