Skipper butterflies received their name because of their quick, darting flight habits. Many species look very much alike and I invariably have trouble identifying them.
Last week I spotted this little skipper butterfly as it was feeding on some wildflowers at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was really happy to capture this image of the butterfly with its proboscis extended, sucking up the nectar from a flower. What species is it? If I had to guess, I’d say it might be a Fiery Skipper butterfly (Hylephila phyleus), but my eye is not as attuned to the subtle differences in skippers as it is to dragonflies, so this is really just a guess.
Even it I can’t identify the butterfly, I can enjoy and celebrate its beauty. I encourage you all to slow down and take in the beauties of nature whenever you can.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
That photo just says “late summer” – such a wonderful setting for the little skipper.
What a cutie!
The skippers certainly are tough ones to figure out.
I suppose that folks who are more expert than I am can figure some of them out, but I have heard that some of them require examination under a microscope to positively identify them.
Like some of the micro-moths I encounter. Genital dissection and staining and mounting the dissected parts on slides is what is often the case for more positive id. I don’t have those kinds of facilities so I can’t do that. And then there is DNA.
I have lots of photos just called “skipper” Only one is identified to species but it is such an easy one compared to most skippers.
A fun genus of tiny moths is Acleris. So much variation within what are said to be the same species.