northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here are a couple Zabulon Skippers from last spring. It's weird that this is one of our most common local butterflies but we still don't know common things about them. For example, we don't even know how the species survives the winter. (You'd think that some poor postdoc would get the assignment of following 1 of them around all winter, but no! Nobody got that assignment.) These knowledge gaps are somewhat inconsistent. The Zabulons have a close relative - sometimes they're mistaken for 1 another - called the Hobomok Skipper , and we know that as partially grown caterpillars they'll make a silk tube to overwinter in. If I had to guess, I'd be suspicious that Zabulon Skippers do the same, but that's just a guess. June 20, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 301112431, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 20, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 301113311, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a few skipper butterflies that're kind of good-looking when you get a good look at them: Zabulon Skippers . At least I'm pretty sure it's a Zabulon; there are other skippers in the area that look similar: Hobomok Skipper - More common in northern New Jersey, and generally veinier. Delaware Skipper - The forewing should have a weird harpoon-like dark shape, and it's also rather veiny. Broad-winged Skipper - Should have an even larger dark mark on the forewing that makes the yellow/orange patch resemble "a boot kicking a stone". In the 1st 2 pictures you can see the yellow/orange patch has a little point or hook out wide that's lacking in the other butterflies. In the 3rd picture you only seen the (less distinctive) wing bottoms, yellowish with spots. This is consistent with the Zabulon, not so much for the Hobomok. Skipper identification isn't easy, especially if you don't get a picture and don't quickly spot a field mark. Too many...

Here's a Zabulon Skipper I met at Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve. This is a male; the females look a lot different. (There's that sexual dimorphism at work again.) While the males don't look much like the females, they do look quite similar to the Hobomok Skipper . The biggest difference is that the Hobomok would have darker veins going through those orangish patches. It's easy to think these butterflies are pretty close relatives. I meet these guys a lot. June 2, 2021 at Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve Photo 136367674, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)