Research Grade Species #1270: Zabulon Skipper
Skippers are small-to-medium sized butterflies with a distinctive "skipping" flight pattern. They are considered "moth-like," a strange designation, since all butterflies are essentially just colorful day flying moths, but it makes sense when you see one. I think it's the relatively small wing-to-body ratio and maybe the big eyes that make them seem transitional between what we think of as butterflies and what are maligned as moths. They drink nectar and help spread pollen. Their larvae grow up as caterpillars eating grasses.
This species (Lon zabulon in iNaturalist, Poanes zabulon in Bugguide) are distinguished in part through strong sexual dimorphism. The male is yellow and orange brown, the female is dark chocolate brown with silvery white accents. These insects breed twice a year, with adults seen flying in our area at the beginning of summer and at the end of summer--this individual, encountered on last Tuesday August third on our weekly pollinator survey within the zoo, would have been born this year. She will lay her eggs on some species of grass, and the caterpillar will chew into the stalk and hide within, emerging at night to feed. While researching this species I found that its overwintering state is unknown--does the caterpillar hunker down in the grass? Does the pupa survive the winter in grass under the snow? Are there eggs surviving the winter? I am utterly amazed to report that we just don't know.