Bug FAQCommon Roadside-Skipper
Mastor vialis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
The common roadside-skipper is a small butterfly with a wingspan of about 2.2 to 3.2 cm. Adults fly from early spring through midsummer, with one generation a year and sometimes a partial second one farther south.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Amblyscirtes vialis belongs to the skipper family Hesperiidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan ranges between 22 and 32 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives across western and central Canada, the northern United States, and down to the Gulf and Florida.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars eat a variety of grasses such as wild oats, bent grass, bluegrass, Bermuda grass and Indian woodoats. Adults sip nectar from low-lying blue flowers like verbena and self-heal.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are on the wing from March through July. There is typically one generation each year, with a possible second partial generation extending to September in southern areas.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
The flight period for adults spans March to July.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 46 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Michigan, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Ohio, Idaho, Kansas.
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
When are common roadside-skippers active?
Adults fly from March through July, with a possible later generation in the south up to September.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the caterpillars eat?
They feed on several grass species, including wild oats, bent grass, bluegrass, Bermuda grass and Indian woodoats.
Source: Wikipedia
What flowers do the adults visit?
Adults prefer nectar from low-lying blue flowers such as verbena and self-heal.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amblyscirtes_vialis
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.