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Silver-spotted Skipper

This silver-spotted skipper is a common butterfly throughout most of the United States. The wingspan can be up to two and a half inches. Wings are brown with a golden patch on the forewing and a white patch on the underside of the hindwing. Silver spotted skippers are attracted to blue, purple, pink, red, and white flowers. Males often sit perched on top of high branches and fly toward any insect that passes, including females. Females lay eggs individually along the top side of leaves. The dome-shaped eggs are green with a red spot. Larvae emerge as green caterpillars with a brown head that has two large orange spots that look like eyes. Food plants for larvae are legumes such as black locust and false indigo. Young caterpillars roll leaves around them for protection while mature caterpillars use silk they produce to stick leaves together and create shelter. The leaf shelters are where they pupate before emerging in their adult butterfly form. The number of generations during a season depends on the region in which they are located.