Overwintering Stage: Not known to overwinter in NJ.Ĭomments: No other spreadwing skipper in NJ is tailed or shows that iridescent blue above. Shop affordable wall art to hang in dorms, bedrooms, offices, or anywhere blank walls arent welcome. They are native to The Neotropics and The Nearctic. Unique Long Tailed Skipper Posters designed and sold by artists. Larval Food Plants: Various legumes (peas and beans), including tick-trefoils ( Desmodium). Urbanus proteus (Long Tailed Skipper) is a species of butterflies in the family skipper butterflies. Extreme dates: North Jersey 7/29-10/8 South Jersey 8/12-11/9. Urbanus proteus proteus (Linnaeus, 1758) Long-tailed Skipper continental E USA, S CA, S AZ, S NM, TX to Argentina. In our area, adults are most common July through November. Adults often roost upside down under leaves and limbs. Adults feed on the nectar of flower from a variety of plants. Habitat: Open, often disturbed, areas with abundant flowers, and-most often in NJ-gardens.įlight Period: Most individuals start showing up in late summer and fall (August into October). The Long-tailed Skipper prefers open, disturbed fields, roadsides, utility right-of-ways, forest edges, and suburban gardens. Goes unreported most years from the northern counties. Long-tailed Skipper was first figured in the 1780s by artist-naturalist John Abbot, working in Georgia, whose drawings and notes were published as The. Most often reported from Cape May County, where it occurs annually. Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly Urbanus proteus Butterfly Size: 1 3/4 - 2 5/16 inchesHabitats: Brushy fields, edges of woods, gardens, and other disturbed open habitats. NJ Status and Distribution: A vagrant from the deep south whose numbers fluctuate. Long, broad tails on HW are distinctive when present, but may be missing. Above: FW and HW dark brown, with pale, squarish, translucent spots in FW (including a median band), and iridescent blue on inner wings, most intense on the HW. When tailless could be mistaken for a cloudywing, but shows much more contrast on HW. Identification: Small1.8' (almost as large as Silver-spotted Skipper). Below: FW and HW brown with 2 darker brown bands across HW.

The body and the wings have bases that have a blue, green color. The hindwing of the Long-tailed skipper butterfly had a very long and prominent tail. It has brown wings, dorsal fore wings with large spots that are glassy. A relatively large, easily-recognized skipper because of the presence. Identification: Small-1.8' (almost as large as Silver-spotted Skipper). The Long-tailed Skipper is a butterfly from the Hesperridae or skipper’s family. Butterfly: Wingspan: 1 - 2 inches (3.8 - 4.1 cm).

Long tailed skipper