Dusted Skipper
(Atrytonopsis hianna)
Grass Skippers
Appearance: Shows a white partial eye ring which gives the species a masked look. Fringes are brown with a few white spots. Below, wings are brown with a gray frosted appearance at the outer margins with a white basal spot on the hindwing. Above, gray-brown with a scattering of white spots.
Wingspan: Small; 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 inches.
Habitat: Dry prairies, foothills, grassy openings in pine woodlands; foothills.
Flight Times: May to early July; one brood.
Larval Foodplant: Big and little bluestem grasses.
Did You Know…
Adults often nectar at beardtongues (penstemon species) and readily enter the long corolla tubes to reach the nectar (Opler, 1999).
