Bug FAQMangrove Skipper
Phocides batabano · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
The Mangrove Skipper has a wingspan of about 5 to 7 cm and lives in coastal Florida, the Florida Keys, nearby Caribbean islands, and occasionally as far north as South Carolina. Adults are on the wing from November through August in southern Florida, and the species is sometimes linked to Phocides pigmalion as a subspecies.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from 48 mm to 70 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found along the coasts of the United States, especially peninsular Florida and the Florida Keys, as well as Cuba, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. Occasional stray individuals have been recorded as far north as coastal South Carolina.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on the red mangrove tree, Rhizophora mangle.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are active from November through August in southern Florida.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Some classifications treat this species as a subspecies of Phocides pigmalion.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When are Mangrove Skippers active?
Adults can be seen flying from November to August in southern Florida.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phocides_batabano
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.