The Horace’s Duskywing butterfly is a medium-sized brown skipper that usually perches with its wings spread. At first glance, this quick-flying, darting butterfly appears to be a moth but it is a member of the skipper family of butterflies. Both males and females have white spots on the forewing, including a white spot in the forewing cell (the oval space between veins that is toward the leading edge of the forewing, near the body); white spots are larger on females. The overall color is brown without a hint of gray. Males have a bold white line over the eye.

 

“Horace’s Duskywing” by Kenneth Cole Schneider, licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

 

Horace’s Duskywing Facts

Butterfly Family: Skipper (Hesperiidae)

Butterfly Subfamily: Pyrginae

Butterfly Wingspan: 1 7/16 – 1 15/16 inches

Butterfly Habitat: Open woodlands and edges, clearings, fencerows, wooded swamps, power-line right-of-ways, open fields, and roadsides

 

Horace’s Duskywing Host and Nectar Plants

Host Plants:

• Red Oak
• White Oak
• Willow Oak
• Northern Red Oak
• Southern Red Oak
• Scrub Oak
• Willow Oak
• Post Oak
• Water Oak
• Blackjack Oak

Nectar Plants:

• Nectar from various flowers
  • Dogbane
  • Buttonbush
  • Sneezeweed
  • Goldenrod
  • Peppermint
  • Boneset
  • Winter Cress
  • Zinnia
  • Blazing Star
  • Purple Coneflower
  • Tennessee Coneflower
  • Fleabane
  • Mistflower
  • Dandelion
  • Prickly Mallow
  • White Clover
  • Red Clover
  • Mountain Mint