Skipper Monitoring

Hesperiidae is a family within Lepidoptera, and butterflies within this family are called skippers, due to their quick and bouncing flight habits. Skippers are generally small (wingspan of 1-2”) with large eyes, short antennae, stout bodies, and three pairs of walking legs. The antenna club on skippers is also hooked, rather than egg-shaped as with other butterflies, which is a key part of species identification. Within Hesperiidae, there are multiple different subfamilies, but for our purposes, we focus on Hesperiidae, or grass skippers. Different species are found within different habitats, including grasslands, barrens, swamps, and marshes. Host plants are typically grasses and sedges. Skippers are found throughout the United States, with approximately 50 species in Ohio (Iftner 1992). Metroparks staff annually monitors five rare and locally uncommon skippers that are considered habitat specialists:  Dusted Skipper (Atrytonopsis hianna) (Ohio species of Concern—rare in Lucas County) (upland prairie specialist), Dion Skipper (Euphyes dion) (wetland/wet prairie specialist and uncommon in Lucas County), Leonard’s Skipper (Hesperia leonardus) (upland prairie specialist and rare in Lucas County), Broad-Winged Skipper (Poanes viator) (wetland/wet prairie and uncommon in Lucas County), and Duke’s Skipper (Euphyes dukesi dukesi) (wetland/wet prairie specialist and rare in Lucas County).  Flight periods differ between species and, in the case of the Dusted Skipper, might only last two weeks.