The Crossline Skipper butterfly is widely distributed from New England west to Montana, south to New Mexico, and east to Georgia. The underside of the wings is pale olive-brown with a crescent band of faint light spots in the postmedial region of the hindwing. The hindwing spots on females may be very pale to absent. The upperside of the forewing in the male is olive-brown with a tawny-orange cell and costal area and three or four light beige spots in the post-medial area.

 

Licensed under (CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication)

 

Crossline Skipper Facts

Butterfly Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)

Butterfly Subfamily: Hesperiinae

Butterfly Wingspan: 1 1/8 – 1 1/2 inches

Butterfly Habitat: Open grassy areas including prairie hills, barrens, power line cuts, old fields, and forest openings

 

Crossline Skipper Host and Nectar Plants

Host Plants:

• Purpletop Tridens Grass
• Melic Manna Grass
• Blue Grass
• Little Bluestem Grass

Nectar Plants:

• Nectar from various flowers
  • Red Clover
  • Purple Vetch
  • New Jersey Tea
  • Dogbane
  • Thistle
  • Blazing Star
  • Mistflower
  • Common Milkweed
  • Ironweed
  • Tennessee Coneflower
  • Purple Coneflower
  • Lobelia