European Skipper

Description:

To find receptive females, males patrol grassy areas with a low meandering flight. Females lay eggs in strings on the host plant stem; the eggs overwinter and hatch the following spring. Caterpillars eat leaves and live in shelters of leaves tied together with silk. Adult skippers roost at night on grass stalks and in the morning bask with their wings at a 70 degree angle.

Habitat:

Introduced accidentally to North America in 1910 through London, Ontario. Much of North America and still expanding, perhaps due to the relocation of eggs in hay shipments. Open grassy places including meadows, hayfields, pastures, abandoned homesteads, grassy road edges. Host Plants: Timothy (Phleum pratense) and other grasses.