Skippers are tiny but speedy butterflies
- Meghan McMahon
- Sep 9
- 2 min read
What's faster and smaller than a butterfly but still somehow a butterfly? A skipper!
Like moths and butterflies, skippers belong to the insect order Lepidoptera. At one time, skippers were thought to be their own distinct group within the order, but scientists now classify them as a type of butterfly.
How to tell the difference
One key identification feature to distinguish between skippers and butterflies is their antennae, specifically the tips. Like butterflies, skippers have club-tipped antennae, but nearly all skippers have antennae that have a hook-shaped bend at the tip.
There are a few other physical features skippers have that help distinguish them from butterflies and moths. For starters, they are small, much smaller than the butterflies we are familiar with. Their wingspans are usually no more than 1 1/4 inches, but some are a bit larger. Compare that to the monarch, which has a wingspan of 3 inches to 4 inches.
Skippers also tend to have short, stocky bodies, more like moths than butterflies. They often have drab color patterns, with shades of orange, brown, tan, gray and white common in the skipper family.
Speedy skippers
Compared to moths and butterflies, skippers are fast flyers. They can reach speeds of up to 37 mph while flying. That's pretty speedy when you consider that butterflies usually fly at speeds between 5 mph and 12 mph. Skippers are actually called skippers because of their fast, darting flight pattern, which makes it look like they are skipping through the air.
Words to know
Distinguish: To recognize or treat something as different.
Drab: Lacking brightness; drearily dull.
Stocky: Broad and sturdily built.
Like butterflies, skippers fly by day, visiting flowers for nectar. They also engage in a behavior called "puddling." This is when they visit mud puddles or even animal waste to collect minerals. Some butterflies and moths also puddle to get the nutrients they need.
Skippers all around
All told, there are about 3,500 described skipper species in the world. About 275 of them live in North America. Common skipper species in Illinois include the European skipper, fiery skipper, least skipper and Peck's skipper. European skippers are not native to our region, but they have lived here since the early 1900s.
Our local skipper species all can be found in open areas like prairies and fields. Most can be seen from about April through October. However, in the case of the fiery skipper, summer is the season we see them locally because they are migratory and fly south for the winter.
Skippers are generally divided into two groups: folded-wing skippers and spread-winged skippers. The difference between the two is in how they hold their wings: Folded-wing skippers hold their wings closed or in a V formation when at rest, while spread-wing skippers hold their wings open.
