Ocola Skipper
Panoquina ocola
Skippers are named for their rapid, skipping flight style, and unlike most butterflies, they often hold their wings at two different angles when resting.
- Scientific name
- Panoquina ocola
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Lepidoptera › Hesperiidae › Panoquina
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Damp grassy fields, marshes, canal banks, and edges of swamps.
- Diet
- Adults feed on nectar from flowers like pickerelweed and shepherd's needle; larvae feed on grasses including rice and sugarcane.
- Range
- North America, Central America, South America
- Size
- 3.2 to 4.1 cm wingspan
- Lifespan
- 2-4 weeks as an adult
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Wetland drainage and heavy pesticide application on agricultural host plants.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. These butterflies are safe to observe from any distance. They are extremely fast and will likely fly away if approached. Avoid touching their wings as the delicate scales can be easily damaged.
Panoquina ocola , the ocola skipper or long-winged skipper , is a species of butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. It is found in Paraguay north through tropical America and the West Indies to south Texas. Strays north to southeast Arizona, west Texas, central Missouri, Ohio, central Pennsylvania, and Long Island.
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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