Observation of the week: August 7-13, 2022
This week we are featuring an observation made by Patrick (@patrick2008), who has been a participant of the Butterfly Blitz since our very first year. Patrick recently spotted this Peck’s Skipper in Mississauga.
Peck’s Skippers are very common at this time of year, and they are also our most common native skipper butterfly. This is likely why they are currently the 7th most observed species in this year’s Butterfly Blitz. It seems like every other observation in the Butterfly Blitz these days is a Peck’s Skipper, so they may move up that list soon.
You can find this species in every province in Canada. The caterpillars eat several grass species, and Peck’s Skippers can be found in many habitats—even poolside, like this observation.
So, why is it called “Peck’s” Skipper? It was named by William Kirby, a well-known British entomologist. Kirby named it after William Dandridge Peck, who was the first professor of natural history at Harvard University, and an entomologist who described many insect species.
Some people also call it the yellow patch skipper, because of the big yellow patch on the underside of the hind wing. It is easy to confuse Peck’s with the Hobomok Skipper—one key difference is that the yellow patch on Peck’s extends further towards the body of the butterfly than on Hobomoks. Peck’s Skippers also have two generations per year, so any skippers that look like this that you see in late July or August are almost certainly Peck’s.
Often species descriptions in field guides will talk about the stigma on the wings of male butterflies – especially in skippers, but do you know what a stigma is? A stigma is a section of scent scales on the forewing that produces pheromones, which helps the males to attract female butterflies. Next time you see a Peck’s Skipper, look for the prominent dark line on the upper side of the forewing – that’s a stigma, full of pheromones!
We are getting close to the end of this year’s Butterfly Blitz and are planning our wrap-up event, taking place on September 17th at Terra Cotta Conservation Area. The event will include a guided hike through the conservation area, with one last chance to find and submit butterfly observations for this year’s project. We will also hand out prizes for the winners of six different categories, including rarest find, most species, and the best photo.
Do you think you have what it takes to be one of our winners? Patrick will be hard to beat for the most participation prize, as he and his family have been coming out to all our events this year. They even went out on their own when we had to cancel our July event. We love to see the butterfly enthusiasm!
Make sure to register for the event by September 13th and keep submitting your photos in the meantime. We hope to see you there!
Post written by Stephanie Donison (@stephd), Assistant, Natural Heritage Management
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