Category Archives: the Lot

Skippers in the Garden

backyard bed, pollinators, the Lot

We’ve been having a great season for spotting critters on the Lot. When I was outside watering today, I caught site of several smaller butterfly or moth-looking insects. They were busy browsing the back garden for something to eat. I took some up-close and personal photos to ID one of the little winged insects.

Butterfly or Skipper?

One of the first things I discovered was this small insect is referred to as a skipper. Skippers belong to the Family Hesperiidae, whose Order is Lepidoptera. Lepidoptera is an order of insects that includes both butterflies and moths. Unlike many of its larger more colorful relatives, skippers are smaller, usually wear duller colors, and dart about rather than gracefully wander around the garden. Both their bodies and eyes are on the larger size compared to the wings. A distinct feature of a skipper are the “hook-like projections at the ends of their clubbed antennae.”

Checkered Skipper

Here is a peak at the upper pattern on this one’s wings. I lucked out ID’ing my first skipper because it doesn’t seem many in Michigan have the higher contrast pattern with white and dark brown / black patterning. Most skippers have a combination of browns, goldenrod, orange, and dusty yellows on their wings. Not this one!

Here’s a better look beneath a wing and at the body, head, and eyes.

After flipping through the guide, I’m feeling pretty sure this is a Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus communis). At first I thought it might be a Grizzled Skipper, but that species only has a single brood with a flight time between the beginning of May to the beginning of June. This is August, which falls well within the flight time of the Checkered Skipper, mid June until the end of October.

Field Guide for Michigan Butterflies

book cover for Michigan Butterflies & SkippersThe field guide I’ve been using this season is Michigan Butterflies & Skippers by Mogens C. Nielsen. You can pick it up at the MSUE store or call your favorite local bookstore.

It doesn’t have photos of all species caterpillars, but it has a great collection of photos displaying upper and lower wings of male and female specimens. The book also includes notes on adult food sources, host plants, habitat, distribution across the state (with map), flight period, and any special remarks for each species.

Preying Creeper

loki bed, the Lot

While out near the swamp milkweed today, I caught sight of an out-of-place swath of green on the fence.

I found myself eye-level with this little mantid. I’ve seen praying mantids on The Lot before, but not one so very tiny.

While trying to identify this mantid, I discovered there are 2 types of mantids found in Michigan. The Chinese mantid (Tenodera sinensis) and the European mantid (Mantis religiousa) were both introduced species. With the adults being 3.5 inches and 3 inches respectively, I was beginning to suspect this little one was not fully grown.

It’s Incomplete

Praying mantids go through incomplete metamorphosis. The insect has 3 stages of change in its life cycle: egg, nymph, and adult. Nymphs are smaller versions of the adult, sans the wings. So, I am in no way an entomologist, but I believe the small mantid was actually a nymph. However, I’m not sure if it was a Chinese mantid nymph or European mantid nymph.

I also believe he or she was lurking near the swamp milkweed in hopes of catching one of the many insects buzzing around the stand of plants. Nymphs have the same food sources as adults. Since last reading about mantids, I’ve learned mantids will eat more than pests. They don’t mind a bee or other beneficials once in a while too.

References

Michigan University State Extension

University of Connecticut Extension

The Giant Kind of Visitor

native plants, perennials, pollinators, the Lot

Another day on the Lot brought yet another opportunity to ID a new insect. This is the first time I noticed this type of butterfly visiting the garden. It was checking out the swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). It was quite large and reminded me of tiger swallowtail butterfly, probably because of the pale yellow and brown coloring.

Giant Swallowtail on Swamp Milkweed

I began my search with swallowtails in a Michigan Butterflies book I’d received at a conference this past March. Soon I found Papilio cresphontes, or the Giant Swallowtail.I believe this may be the type of butterfly pictured here. The features separating this butterfly from the other swallowtails is the large area of brown and diagonal bands of yellow spots on upper side of the wings.

Giant Swallowtail Butterfly

The guide did not list the swamp milkweed as a food source, but did list a favored nectar source as butterfly bush (Buddleja) as well as joe pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum). Both of those plants are on the same side of the garden as the milkweed plant it was investigating.

I wish I would have gotten a better shot of the back edges of the wings to be sure. The flight time is supposed to be from end of April to beginning of October. Hopefully I will see one again and can get better pictures to make sure my shot at ID’ing it is correct.