Bug FAQBroad-winged Skipper
Poanes viator · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
The broad-winged skipper (Poanes viator) is a butterfly found in North America. Its caterpillars eat sedges (Carex) and common reed (Phragmites australis).
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Poanes viator is the scientific name for the broad-winged skipper.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
This skipper butterfly lives in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The larvae feed on Carex species and on Phragmites australis.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range extends from Texas and Florida northward along the east coast to Massachusetts and westward to southern Quebec, Ontario and the Dakotas.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 38 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, 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
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poanes_viator
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.