Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Palmetto Skippers are big, bright, and eye catching. They are the only members of their genus (Euphyes) that do not use sedges as their larval host.  Instead, they have adapted to Saw Palmetto, a native perennial shrub or small tree in the Palm family (Arecaceae). Although Saw Palmetto occurs in appropriate habitats in the southern third of the state, Palmetto Skippers have only been documented in a few locations in Baldwin County.  Throughout their limited range, something seems to limit populations, but what is not known. It is not host plant scarcity. Saw Palmettos are common and even used as landscape plants, readily available in the nursery trade.

These skippers are avid nectarers and are most often encountered at flowers.  Blazing star/liatris, Spanish Needles/bidens, thistles, and Vanilla Leaf are draws. Males perch to search for females.  Females deposit eggs on Saw Palmetto, often near the blade's base. Caterpillars devise loose shelters by drawing in part of a blade and tying it with silk.  Final instars reinforce their tubular shelter and plug the top with a wad of silk.  

Palmetto Skipper is distributed from the southeast Georgia coast through upper and central Florida to coastal Alabama and Mississippi. This is a rare skipper, and for some unknown reason, it is getting rarer as time goes by. It was formerly found throughout Florida to the Everglades, but that range has shrunk considerably. In Alabama, it should be searched for wherever Saw Palmettos occur.