New Jersey Butterfly Club

Least Skipper

Ancycloxypha numitor

Identification: Tiny—FW <0.5" (NJ's smallest grass-skipper). Sexes similar. Rounded wings are distinctive, as is its busy but weak flight within vegetation near the ground. Above: FW dark, either completely or with an orange patch along the leading margin. HW orange with a medium-wide, even-edged dark border along leading and outer margins. Abdomen orange with a dark stripe along the top. Below: FW dark, with a broad orange band along leading and trailing margins (when wings are closed, only the orange is visible). HW plain orange, paler in the center. Similar skippers: European is larger, with triangular wings.

NJ Status and Distribution: Resident. Common and widespread throughout.

Habitat: Grassy wetlands of all kinds.

Flight Period: Three broods resulting in an extended flight from late May—October. Extreme dates: North Jersey 5/21—10/19; South Jersey 4/20—10/31.

Caterpillar Food Plants: Various grasses, including Reed Canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea), Rice Cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides), bluegrasses (Poa).

Overwintering Stage: 3rd or 4th instar caterpillar.

Good Locations: Delaware Water Gap NRA, Appalachian Trail Lands, Kittatinny Valley SP, Adiguzelli Tract, Troy Meadows, Bamboo Brook, Thompson Park (Middlesex County), Mercer Master Gardens, Riverwinds Scenic Trail, Tall Pines State Preserve.