Alabama Butterfly Atlas

  1. Home
  2. Species
  3. Leonard's Skipper
Stray, Accidental, or Historic

Leonard's Skipper Hesperia leonardus

Leonard's Skipper (Hesperia leonardus)

View More Photos »

Butterfly: Wingspan: 1 - 1¼ inches (2.2 - 3.5 cm).  As in other species of  Hersperia, there are two isolated orange spots near the outer forewing edge. As viewed from above, it is dark brown with some orange blocks near the wing edge, and with a cream-colored fringe. The forewing is orange at the base and brown along the margins. The male hindwing is rust-colored, while being chestnut colored in females. Both sexes with a postmedian row of bold white blocks of pigment forming a sideways "V", with a single white dot just anterior to the "V" and located near central portion of wing.

Egg: Eggs are scattered on or near the host plants. Egg color and morphology has not been described.

Caterpillar: Brown body with a darker brown to black head. A white "collar" just behind head. Nests are built at the base of grass clumps. The first stage caterpillars overwinter. The caterpillars continue to feed the next spring and summer and pupate in late July.

Chrysalis: 

Butterfly ID Thumbnail
Get Identification Help

This is one of the few skippers with a single brood in the late summer (August, September). There is only a single historic Alabama record near Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County.  Elsewhere, it occurs from Ontario and Nova Scotia southward into the Carolinas, then across Alabama into Louisiana and north to Missouri.

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.

  • Map Symbol for Recent Sightings Sightings in the past 5 years
  • Map Symbol for Semi-Recent Sightings Sightings in the past 5 - 10 years
  • Map Symbol for Old Sightings Sightings more than 10 years ago
County Distribution Map

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
No Sightings recorded at this time.

Habitat

Prefers dry, upland habitats including: pine-oak barrens, oak openings, brushy fields, grassy trails, and roadsides.

Host and Nectar Plants

No host plant has been documented in Alabama.

In nearby states, the host plants include Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and bentgrasses (Agrostis spp.).