Dukes' Skipper - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

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Duke's Skippers are rarely encountered in their shady, vegetation-choked wetland habitats. When describing Duke's habitat, one observer remarked, "Think mosquitoes, snakes, and alligators." They are not as bright as other members of their Euphyes genus, perhaps to better blend with their shady site preferences. This skipper was named in 1923 in honor of W. C. Dukes of Mobile, Alabama, who collected the first specimens on August 6, 1922, in Mobile County.

Males patrol in search of unmated females, flying slowly through stands of sedge. Females lay eggs on sedge blades. Caterpillars tie blades together with silk to form tubular shelters. Partially grown caterpillars of the final brood spend the winter in one of these tubes and complete development the following spring. Nectar sources are often blue, purple, pink, or white wetland wildflowers, and these reclusive skippers sometimes move to more open areas to find them.

Duke's Skippers occur along the lower Atlantic Coast and in a broad swath that includes the Mississippi River and the Ohio River as it moves from the lower Great Lakes. They are currently known from only one site in Alabama. Whether they are extremely rare or just rarely encountered is not known.

Distribution and Abundance

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, Sumter

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

High count(s):

1 - Baldwin - 10/6/2014
1 - Sumter - 9/8/2018

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
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Habitat

Shady hardwood swamps and marshes, often very overgrown. May also be found nectaring in shaded, wet roadside ditches.

Host and Nectar Plants

Reports from nearby states list sedges (Carex spp.) that include Hairy Sedge (Carex lacustris) and Shoreline Sedge (Carex hyalinolepis). In Florida, beak sedges (Rhynchospora spp.) are documented.

No host plant has been documented in Alabama.