Bug FAQDreamy Duskywing
Erynnis icelus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
Its caterpillars are pale green with many white dots and show a green stripe along the back. Adults fly from April to early July, sometimes a second generation appears in the southern Appalachians.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Caterpillars are pale green with multiple white dots. A green middorsal stripe runs along the back of the larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The wingspan ranges from 29 to 38 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives in boreal regions of North America.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on willow, poplar and occasionally birch species.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There is typically one generation, with adults on the wing from April to early July. A rare second generation may occur in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are active from April through early July.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range is boreal North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Erynnis icelus is also called the dreamy duskywing or aspen duskywing and belongs to the skipper family Hesperiidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 42 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Michigan, Vermont, Minnesota, Ohio, New Hampshire, Colorado, Idaho, Virginia.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What do the larvae of the dreamy duskywing look like?
They are pale green with many white dots and have a green stripe along the middle of their back.
Source: Wikipedia
When can I see adult dreamy duskywings?
Adults fly from April to early July, and sometimes a second generation appears in the southern Appalachians.
Source: Wikipedia
What plants do the caterpillars eat?
The caterpillars feed on willow, poplar and sometimes birch species.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erynnis_icelus
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.