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Sachem skipper7/13/2023 Kay attended The Book Club monthly meeting in North Little Rock on Thursday after which we drove to Memphis to celebrate Jenny’s birthday (and of course love on the grandkids). I took advantage of the warm weather Thursday morning to photograph a Sachem Skipper butterfly in the back yard. Cloudless Sulphur Fiery Skipper Clouded SkipperĪ wildflower was still blooming, and the persimmons are almost ripe. I did manage to photograph a few yard subjects Monday morning, including a few butterflies. ![]() ![]() We both were busy with social commitments and golf on Monday, pickleball and golf on Tuesday, and pickleball and golf again on Wednesday. We resumed our “normal” activities Sunday afternoon, playing pickleball with the Diamante group, and bridge with the Morrises Sunday evening. Because the bride had enlisted in the US Air Force and was to begin basic training on Tuesday, I quickly post processed the 400+ photos after church on Sunday, and forwarded some 150+ pictures to the bride. Consequently, I spent the days leading up to the wedding watching YouTube videos on flash and wedding photography. It has been over 40 years since I last photographed a wedding! And this one was late afternoon and early evening, necessitating a flash. Diana Ramirez, a beautiful young Columbian lady asked me to photograph her wedding she married our (Kay’s) grandson tonight, Saturday. Consequently, there is little room for error. So, grab your camera and some patience and get out there and identify your grass skippers! Food Chain in action.Photographing a wedding is a nerve racking job the resulting photos will be precious to the bride and groom for the rest of their lives. Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola) visiting Goldenrod (Solidago sp.): This is the smallest North American skipper: Southern Skipperling (Copaeodes minima) from June 2011 is laying eggs on the grass. Sachem Skipper Butterfly (Atalopedes campestris) taken last month (male): Sachem from August 2015 on Bidens albaįiery Skipper Butterfly (Hylephila phyleus) from September 2013 on Bidens alba:įrom August 2013: Delaware Skipper Butterfly (Anatrytone logan) on Florida Native Plant Carolina Redroot (Lachnanthes caroliana): Mating Whirlabout Skipper Butterflies (Polites vibex) Here’s a mating pair of Whirlabouts from March 2014 on some sort of grass. Whirlabout Skipper Butterfly (Polites vibex) taken this month nectaring at Bidens alba. Here are six identified species that visit my place. Of course not every other species plays nice, but hey, the Green Lynx Spider needs to eat! I’ve found Andy’s website quite helpful when comparing my photos since he has both pinned specimens and live specimen photos for all species. ![]() ![]() Thus, you might be confident of identification in summer, only to be stumped when winter rolls around (they fly year round here in Florida). Skippers get along well with others (from January 2015) Exotic Honeybee shares Bidens alba with Sachem Skipper Butterfly Grass skippers such as the Sachem can be very hard to distinguish because, according to Twitter pal entomologist extraordinaire (with a focus on skippers), “Ventral color is quite variable depending on sex and season”. They are called grass skippers because the larval host is various grasses. I’m here to talk skipper butterflies (Family Hesperiidae)…particularly grass skippers (Subfamily Hesperiinae). If that were the case I would be running, not skipping. No, I don’t have an emergency need to rush to the rest room (loo).
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