A couple weeks ago I spotted three small butterflies (under an inch in size) out feeding from the clover in the lawn. I knew that they were Skippers, but they didn't match the checklist of species for Eugene, OR. I believe they might be Mardon Skippers, even if the species isn't thought to be in the area. Anyway, I was hoping for a second opinion before I got too excited about spotting an imperiled species. Although it might be too late - I already bought seeds for the butterflies' host plant! Here it is with wings closed. ( photo / image / picture from Gloomstopper's Garden ) Sunning with wings partly open ( photo / image / picture from Gloomstopper's Garden )
Wel from the pictures I've seen I think they very well could be a Mardon Skippers. Well spotted. I hope someone can confirm what we both think.
Thanks Eileen! I suppose it could be the more common and very similar looking Long Dash Skipper, but the pattern on the inside of its wings isn't quite right.
I am learning slowly about our butterflys in Wisconsin...we have a site we can check and report butterfly sitings. Then if we are wrong, they help us out. I can look and look and I think I am right and I am wrong....going back and forth from pictures is really hard. I thought yours looks liked a woodland skipper from a picture I had found. I hope you can find out for sure by an expert in your area. Great shots... Copy and paste the title below in your browser...and check it out. Skippers Photo Gallery by Rod Gilbert at pbase.com
Thanks Sherry! The photo gallery was really helpful. I now know of four possibilities the butterfly could be, all of which look really similar: The mardon, long dash, woodland or common branded skipper. I never thought to search outside the species checklist for my area. I did submit a photo to http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/, but I don't know when I'll get the results. I may submit another sighting, now that I have better pictures.
My submission to http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/ is still pending, so I don't know when I'll get a response. However, I ruled out common branded skipper because of its documented range and the long dash seems unlikely (documented in Washington, not Oregon). However, the seeds for the host plant arrived a few days ago!
