Bug FAQWoodland Skipper
Ochlodes sylvanoides · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
The woodland skipper has a wingspan of about 25 to 32 mm and orange wings with dark edges. It lives in woodlands, gardens and grassy areas across western North America, from British Columbia to southern California and east to Montana, Colorado and Arizona.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The upper side of the wings is orange with dark borders. Males have black androconia on the forewings; females have two dark markings on the forewings.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from 25 to 32 mm (about 1 inch).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in woodlands, gardens and other grassy habitats.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars eat various grasses such as Bermuda grass, Phalaris, Elymus and Agropyron. Adult butterflies sip nectar from flowers.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The larvae feed on a range of Poaceae grasses, including Cynodon dactylon, Phalaris, Elymus and Agropyron.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 19 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Nevada.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochlodes_sylvanoides
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.