The Delaware skipper has a wingspan of 1-1.5 inches (2.5-3.8 cm). The uppersides of its wings are bright yellowish-orange with a dark brown to black border with black veins. The undersides of its wings are a solid yellowish-orange.
It has an orange fringe along the edges of its wings. The female’s wing border is thicker than the male’s, and its wing veins are darker and more noticeable.
The Delaware skipper caterpillar eats a variety of grasses, including switchgrass, bluestem, and woolly beardgrass.
The adult Delaware skipper eats nectar from mostly pink, purple, and white flowers, including milkweeds, morning glories, clovers, buttonbush, thistles, and pickerelweed.
The female lays single eggs on the leaves of a host plant. In the northern parts of its range, the Delaware skipper has one brood a year between July and August. In the southern parts of its range, it has two broods between May and September.
Male Delaware skippers sit on low grass to watch for females, especially near puddles or little dips in the ground. Sometimes they rest on bare dirt. They fly really fast and look like little orange flashes in the air.
The skipper in this butterfly’s name is derived from the fact that it quickly “skips” from plant to plant in search of nectar.
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The Delaware skipper is found in New Hampshire.
In North America, the Delaware skipper is found from southern Canada south to Arizona, Texas, and Florida. It is also found in Mexico and Central America.
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