Skippers are a type of butterfly, small to medium sized. I refer to them as the teddy bears of butterflies because they are unusually furry and have big black eyes. They are the first ones to wake up in the morning and start zooming around so fast it's hard to get a good look at one until they settle down a bit to rest on a leaf or nectar on a flower. I am very fond of Skippers...they come in so many styles and designs. For the larger butterflies, it is easy to follow them around, to observe the eggs, depositing the eggs, growing as caterpillars, shedding skins, pupating, making chrysalises, emerging as butterflies, mating. But Skippers are more elusive (at least that has been my experience). I have never seen them mate, lay eggs, become caterpillars, pupate, make chrysalises and emerge as butterflies. I'm not sure why this is, but after the rainy season 2014, when i was cutting back a potted lantana plant i did manage to glimpse a part of the process when my pruning revealed this attached to the container. "O, hello and who might you be?" I had no idea, but now that i had blown its cover, i thought i should put it in a fairly protected place, leaving it on the container, but keeping an eye on it during my garden visits. It was maybe 10 minutes after the above photo was taken that this emerged. An adorable furry Skipper which was later identified to be an Evan's Skipper (Panoquina fusina), common in Mexico and Southwest Texas, and looking like this with ruffled and curled wings not yet ready for flight. After a little while, looking like this. The sheen on the inside of the wing is one clue to its identify. The wings are a little bit straighter but still not flight ready. And, a little while later, like this. Wings fully cured and ready for flight and will you look at that fuzzy little head...so adorable and showing off the new wings so nicely. I wonder why it is i had never before seen even this much of their life cycle? They must be masters of disguise and this must be their defense. Skippers often have multiple food sources and this would make them harder to find for both me and the predators who would like to eat them. Maybe one of these days i'll find a caterpillar and then again maybe not.
Gosh you were so lucky to find the chrysalis at just the right moment. You managed to get a wonderful series of photographs too of one of your elusive little skippers. We have around 11 different skippers here in the UK but I've found it really difficult to get photographs of them at any stage. I've never seen them depositing the eggs, growing as caterpillars, shedding skins, pupating, making chrysalises, emerging as butterflies but have seen them mating on the odd occasion. I've never been able to get a clear shot of them in flight as they are just too fast and don't land for long enough for me take their picture.
Eileen, the best photos i have of skippers are when they are nectaring. They can't zoom around and eat at the same time And, they do have times in repose, but one has to be camera ready. When i am in repose, they will from time to time land on me and stay there for awhile usually perched on an arm, and usually in the early evening. Then they will fly off to a shrub nearby and slip underneath a leaf for the night.
