All skippers have moth-like bodies that are thick and furry. Their wings are triangular and their antennae end in knobs with tiny hooks. Their name comes from the description of their flight pattern of darting from one place to another. Their caterpillars have smooth skins and large heads.

Eggs of the long-tailed skipper are pale yellow and they are laid singly on the bottom of the leaves of host plants. Common beggar-ticks, panicled ticktrefoil, and wisteria are some of its host plants. All of these plants are legumes (beans). (We have beggarweed growing in Garden 11, and panicled ticktrefoil in several gardens). The long-tailed skipper caterpillar is called the bean leaf roller because each caterpillar constructs a shelter by folding over small sections of a host plant leaf and tying the ends together with silk.

Each caterpillar is yellow-green with yellow stripes on its side and a dark stripe down its back. We've not found any eggs in the gardens, but on April 2, 2009 a caterpillar (about 1/8 long and shown below) was located inside a curled panicled ticktrefoil leaf in Garden 13. Note the silk threads on the leaf that kept the leaf folded in half. The leaf had to be peeled opened to reveal its hidden treasure.

On April 9, 2009, the caterpillar was 3/4 of an inch long. Besides increasing in length, it coloration was more vivid. Again, the leaf had to be peeled apart to take these photos. Note that the leaf was molded around its body.

Adult long-tailed skippers are often seen on the porterweed, especially in Garden 1. They are most common in the fall when large numbers migrate to Florida from northern states. Below at left is a long-tailed skipper flying to get nectar from a porterweed blossom. At right, it is feeding.

 

The long-tailed skipper gets its name from the long "tails" on its hindwings.

Another distinctive characteristic of this butterfly is the blue scales on its abdomen and at the base of its hindwings. The butterfly below is thought to be a long-tailed skipper that somehow lost its tails. Perhaps a predator attacked it... or perhaps the tails just never developed. Whatever the case, it's a strange looking long-tailed skipper.

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Links:

Index to Butterfly and Moth Visitors to Gardens

Index To Photographs of Plants in the Gardens

Plant Lists by Garden

Conservancy of SW Florida Butterfly Garden Home Page

Conservancy of SW Florida Home Page.

Please report errors to Susan Snyder at ssnyder2@columbus.rr.com