Yesterday I spotted this beautiful little Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly (Epargyreus clarus) while I was wandering about at Occoquan Regional Park. There are more than 3500 species of skippers worldwide, but fortunately this one is pretty easy to identify. Many of the other skippers in our area are similar in appearance, with only slight differences in the patterns on their wings.
When I was doing a little research on this species, I came across this curious comment on the Butterflies and Moths of North America website, “The Silver-spotted Skipper almost never visits yellow flowers but favors blue, red, pink, purple, and sometimes white and cream-colored ones.” I am not sure whether the fact that this butterfly species has a color preference surprises me more or the fact that some scientist obviously studied and catalogued its behavior.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I really enjoyed this photo, Mike, with the exquisite features of the butterfly and the leaf, and the similar pointy features of the antennae and leaf. Your final comment had me smiling and myself wondering about this curious color preference.
Thanks, Jet. Silver-spotted Skippers are fairly common here, but was really happy with the angle of this shot and the butterfly’s pose. I kind of like the way that the wings are partially open, with the wing closest to us in focus and the back one gradually falling out of focus. As for color preference? Who knows? I recall hearing that hummingbirds prefer flowers that are bright red and that is supposedly why hummingbird feeders almost always have red accents.
You know I enjoy the unique shots you publish, I’m just as impressed with the ‘tidbits’ you add.
Thanks, Ted. I am by nature a very curious person, so I like to ask all kinds of questions, which sometimes takes me down a rabbit hole. That is often where I find the weird and wonderful facts that I like to share. 🙂
That’s a wonderful image, Mike.
Thanks, Dan.