Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy places the family in the superfamily Papilionoidea. They are named for their quick, darting flight habits. Most have their antenna tips modified into narrow, hook-like projections. Moreover, skippers mostly have an absence of wing-coupling structure available in most moths. More than 3500 species of skippers are recognized, and they occur worldwide, but with the greatest diversity in the Neotropical regions of Central and South America.
Grass skippers or banded skippers are butterflies of the subfamily Hesperiinae, part of the skipper family, Hesperiidae. The subfamily was established by Pierre André Latreille in 1809.
Hesperia, the branded skippers, is a Holarctic genus in the skippers (Hesperiidae) butterfly family. Most species are endemic to North America, Hesperia comma is widespread throughout the region. H. florinda is endemic to temperate eastern Asia. H. nabokovi is endemic to Hispaniola.
Autochton cellus, the golden banded-skipper, is a North and Central American butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. There are two populations, one in the eastern United States and the other in the southwestern United States and Mexico. The eastern population is rare and local and uses only one host plant, the thicket bean. The southwestern population is uncommon to common and uses more than one host plant. The golden banded-skipper is most active mid-morning and late afternoon. Their flight is sluggish and low to the ground, compared to closely related species.
Atrytonopsis is a genus of butterflies in the skipper family, Hesperiidae. They are native to Mexico and the southwestern United States.
Oligoria is a genus of butterflies in the family Hesperiidae. It contains only one species, the twin-spot skipper which is found in the United States along the coast of North Carolina south through Florida and west along the Gulf Coast to east Texas. Strays can be found as far north as Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey.
Atrytonopsis quinteri, the crystal skipper is a newly described butterfly that is found only along a 30-mile (50 km) stretch of barrier islands in North Carolina. The skipper was first discovered in 1978 and the paper describing it as a full species was published in 2015.
Atrytonopsis hianna, the dusted skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in the United States from eastern Wyoming, central Colorado, northern New Mexico and central Texas east to New Hampshire and Massachusetts, south to peninsular Florida and the Gulf Coast.
Phocides pigmalion, the mangrove skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in the United States from coast to coast in peninsular Florida and the Florida Keys, south through the West Indies and Mexico to Argentina. Strayed can be found up to coastal South Carolina.
Euphyes dion, the Dion skipper or Alabama skipper, is a species of butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in scattered populations along the Atlantic coast of North America, from western Massachusetts and south-eastern New York south to north-eastern Florida, west to north-eastern Texas, and north to south-eastern North Dakota, northern Wisconsin, southern Ontario and southern Quebec. It is listed as a species of special concern in the US state of Connecticut.
Euphyes dukesi, or Dukes' skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It lives in the eastern United States and in a small portion of southern Ontario, Canada, in three distinct populations. Preferred habitats are shaded wetlands, with various species of sedge plants it uses as host plants for its larvae.
Euphyes berryi, known as Berry's skipper, is a rare species of butterfly of the family Hesperiidae, historically found in wet areas from North Carolina to Florida.
The chequered skipper, not to be confused with the large chequered skipper, is a small woodland butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. This butterfly can live in grasslands. The upperside of the butterfly is brown with orange spots and on its underside the chequered skipper is orange with brown spots. Chequered skippers are found in Great Britain and other European regions, but seen locally in Japan and in North America. In North America the chequered skipper is known as the arctic skipper. The size of the chequered skipper ranges from 19 to 32 mm with females being larger. In the 1970s, the chequered skipper went extinct in England due to the new management of the woodlands.
Atrytonopsis pittacus, the white-barred skipper, is a species of grass skipper in the family Hesperiidae. It was described by William Henry Edwards in 1882 and is found in Central and North America.
Atrytonopsis deva, the deva skipper, is a species of grass skipper in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. It is found in Central America and North America.
Atrytonopsis edwardsi, the sheep skipper, is a grass skipper butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1916. It is found in Central and North America.
Atrytonopsis python, known generally as the python skipper or annual sea-blite, is a species of grass skipper in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. It is found in North America.
Atrytonopsis vierecki, or Viereck's skipper, is a species of grass skipper in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. It is found in North America.
Atrytonopsis cestus, the cestus skipper, is a species of grass skipper in the butterfly family Hesperiidae.
Atrytonopsis lunus, the moon-marked skipper, is a species of grass skipper in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. It is found in Central America and North America.
Burns, J. 2015. Speciation in an insular sand dune habitat: Atrytonopsis (Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae) - mainly from the southwestern United States and Mexico - off the Carolina coast. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 69(4):275-292.
