Summary ⁴

The Salt Marsh Skipper (Panoquina panoquin) is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. This is the easiest skipper to identify at the GTM because of the short white bar on the underside of the hind wing.

It is found along the Atlantic Coast of North America, from New York south to Florida and the Florida Keys, west along the Gulf Coast to southern Texas.

Description ⁵

Forewings are pointed. Wings are dark brown. Upperside of forewing has a few pale spots. Underside of hind wing has yellow veins and a short white bar at the end of the cell.
Wing Span: 1 3/16 - 1 1/2 inches (3.5 - 3.9 cm).

Larva Description ⁵

Head green. Body green with four greenish dorsal stripes narrowly edged with gray and a yelolwish-white lateral stripe.

Larval Host Plants ⁵

Grasses: Saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) in California; Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) in the Antilles, Bahama grass (Saccharum officinarum), and probably seashore dropseed (Sporobolus virginicus).

GTM Occurrence ⁵

The Salt Marsh Skipper is the most common species at the GTM. Occurs along all transects but most common in the open habitat along Transect A. Of the forest transects it is most common along the Glasswort Loop (Transect C). Adults fly from March to December with peak abundance in June and September. Present in all years of the survey. There have been 1,609 specimens observed as of December 28, 2015.

Distribution ⁴

It is found along the Atlantic Coast of North America, from New York south to Florida and the Florida Keys, west along the Gulf Coast to southern Texas.

Habitat ⁶

Comments: Salt marsh with adults commonly moving a kilometer or so inland to fields, roadsides and gardens for nectar.

National nature serve conservation status ⁷

United States

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Dan Irizarry, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/danirizarry/5141222894/
2. (c) pondhawk, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/38686613@N08/4747092991/
3. (c) pondhawk, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/38686613@N08/4747742882/
4. Adapted by GTMResearchReserve from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panoquina_panoquin
5. (c) GTMResearchReserve, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
6. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28762350
7. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28762345

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• BugGuide
• Butterflies and Moths of North America
• CUIC Insect Images
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• Maryland Moths
• Moth Photographers Group
• Moths of North Carolina
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0

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