THE SKIPPERS
Monograph Number Five in The Mentor Reading Course
Hast thou heard the butterflies,
What they say betwixt their wings?—Tennyson.
All the little brown butterflies fluttering in various positions on this plate are Skippers, members of the family of the Hesperiidæ. These are generally small and stout and have a quick, strong flight. The most striking one here is the Long-tailed Skipper, flying downward on the left. The upper side of his wings are brown, glossed with green at the base. The fore wings are spotted. This butterfly lays its eggs on the wistaria and butterfly pea. Though tropical, Eudamus protens is occasionally found along the Atlantic seacoast as far north as New York.
In the upper right-hand corner is a female Brazilian Skipper, a robust, thick-bodied butterfly common in the Gulf States and North Carolina and ranging southward through the Antilles to Argentina.
A little below is the Common Sooty Wing, black on both sides of the wings with a series of little spots. It belongs to all of North America. The New Mexican Sooty Wing is in full flight at the upper left corner. It is common in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.
The brown one, the Sleepy Dusky Wing flying downward in the center and the large black one below the Common Sooty Wing belong to the genus Thanaos, the Dusky Wings, a group which reaches its largest development in North America. They are all dark; but a few varieties have bright spots on their hind wings.
Few know the one in the center, Plestea dorus, as it is confined to Arizona and Mexico. Its life history is unknown.