Bug FAQZabulon Skipper
Lon zabulon · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
The Zabulon skipper is a small butterfly with a wingspan of about 35 to 41 mm and orange-brown wings in males. It lives in woodland edges, openings, streamsides, and also in suburban parks and gardens across the eastern United States down to Panama. Caterpillars eat a variety of grasses, the species has two broods per year, and adults fly in spring and fall depending on latitude.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Male upperside wings are mostly orange with dark brown edges. Male underside wings are yellow-orange with dark brown edges.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in woodland edges, openings, and near streams. Also adapts to suburban areas, parks, and gardens.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on grasses such as Agrostis, Dactylis, Elymus, Eragrostis, Leymus, Poa, Puccinellia and Tridens.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Produces two generations each year. The stage at which it overwinters is not known.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
In the south, adults fly March-April and August-October; in the north, May-July and August-September.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Occurs from Wisconsin east to the Atlantic coast, south to Georgia, Texas, and Panama.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
The only similar species in its range is the Hobomok skipper. Hobomok skipper lives farther north and has a different flight period.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 38 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, North Carolina, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants do the caterpillars eat?
They feed on a variety of grasses, including Agrostis, Dactylis, Elymus, Eragrostis, Leymus, Poa, Puccinellia and Tridens.
Source: Wikipedia
When can I see Zabulon skippers?
In the southern part of their range they appear in early spring and again in late summer; farther north they are seen in late spring and late summer.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabulon_skipper
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.