Bug FAQBlack Dash
Euphyes conspicua · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
The black dash is a skipper butterfly with a wingspan of about 32 to 42 mm. Adults fly from June to August, producing one generation per year, and feed on nectar from buttonbush, jewelweed and swamp thistle, while the larvae eat Carex stricta and possibly other Carex species.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The black dash belongs to the butterfly family Hesperiidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan ranges from 32 to 42 millimeters.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It inhabits shrubby or partially wooded wetlands.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults drink nectar from flowers such as buttonbush, jewelweed, and swamp thistle.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are on the wing from June through August, producing one generation each year.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults appear from June to August.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 25 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut, Wisconsin, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What flowers do adult black dash butterflies visit?
Adults sip nectar from buttonbush, jewelweed, and swamp thistle.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphyes_conspicua
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.