THE COMMON BUTTERFLIES 



243 



antennae of the Skippers are enlarged like those of the butterflies 



toward the tip, but the 

 knob is very bent or 

 hooked. The vSkippers 

 have heavy bodies and are 

 very agile in flight. The 

 caterpillars of the Skippers 

 are absurd looking crea- 

 tures, the neck being very 



The Silver Spotted Skipper Above the Nest of its Caterpillar 

 Color chocolate brown — the front wings marked with yellow and the 

 lower wings marked with white on under side. Its caterpillar forms 

 a nest by fastening together the leaflets of locust leaves. 



small and the head very large. They usually hve concealed in a 

 folded leaf or in a nest made of a few leaves fastened together. 



There are about two hundred species of Skippers in America 

 north of Mexico and they are very dififlcult to determine except in 

 the case of some of the larger and well marked species. In one 

 sub-family which are largely of tawny or orange brown color, 

 there is an oblique dark patch across the front wing. To another 

 sub-family belong most of the blackish or dark brown or dusky 

 winged Skippers often dotted with white or lighter yellow and which 

 have a little fold along near the front border of the front wing. 



The main thing for 



the beginner in the 



study of butterflies 



to achieve is to 



know a Skipper when 



he sees it and to 



be able to say at 



once, "this is a skip- 

 per and not a butter- 



fly." 



A male skipper with a 

 diagonal "brand" 

 across the front wings. 

 Many of these are 

 coppery yellow and 

 brown in color. 



A male skipper with a 

 fold near the front 

 margin of the wing. 

 Most of the species 

 are dark brown marked 

 with white or translu- 

 cent angular spots. 



