SE Colorado Birding

Birding and discussion: A conservation-oriented birding blog that emphasizes low-impact birding and sustainable birding practices together with the enjoyment of birds. Southeast Colorado offers a diversity of habitats which provide premiere birding opportunities. Save Sabal Palm

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Draco Skipper ?



The two butterflies in this pic are members of the "grass skipper" family of butterflies. And I believe they are both Draco Skippers, likely a male and a female. They were chasing after each other on the marigolds in my yard.

They certainly have proportionally large eyes. And I believe that the long tube protruding from the butterfly on the right is it's tongue, which is a long hollow tube-like structure that functions like a straw so butterflies can drink water from damp sand as well as nectar. According to an National Audubon article, Gardening for Butterflies", Skippers have tongues that can reach one and one half times their wing spans!. This small (only about an inch long) butterfly is found in western parts of SE Colorado and throughout the intermountain west. SeEtta

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