An Often Overlooked Butterfly
The Folded-wing Skippers are not very colorful, so they are often overlooked in the garden. But they are an interesting insect because of their unique and characteristic posture: they hold their wings partially open while resting, with the front wings and hind wings held at different angles.. All members of this group feed on grasses or grassy-like plants, like sedges and rushes, as caterpillars. Because of this fact, they are often called Grass Skippers.
Folded-winged Skippers, also called Banded Skippers, are butterflies of the family Hesperiidae. There are over 2000 species of Folded-winged Skippers, and 1500 other species in the
Skipper family. They are found worldwide.
Butterflies Defined
Butterflies are a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which is made up of the following superfamilies:
- True Butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea)
- Skippers (superfamily Hesperioidea)
- Moth-butterflies (superfamily Hedyloidea)
