Bug FAQLeonard's Skipper
Hesperia leonardus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
Leonard's skipper is a butterfly in the Hesperiidae family with a wingspan of about 3.2 to 4.5 cm. It lives across eastern Canada and the United States, from Nova Scotia and Maine west to the Great Lakes, Minnesota, and south to North Carolina, Louisiana and Missouri. The caterpillars feed on various grasses, while adults sip nectar from flowers such as Liatris, thistles, asters and teasel.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Leonard's skipper (Hesperia leonardus) belongs to the skipper butterfly family Hesperiidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan ranges from 32 to 45 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
There are three recognized subspecies of Leonard's skipper.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars eat grasses such as Andropogon scoparius, Bouteloua gracilis and Agrostis. Adult butterflies feed on nectar from flowers like Liatris punctata, thistles, asters and teasel.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species has one generation per year, with adults flying from August through October.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing from August to October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to eastern Canada and the United States, from Nova Scotia and Maine westward to the Great Lakes region and Minnesota, and south to North Carolina, Louisiana and Missouri.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Besides the nominate form, the Pawnee skipper (subspecies pawnee) is a similar species found from western Montana and southeastern Saskatchewan east to Minnesota and south to central Colorado and Kansas.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 38 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Ohio, Michigan, South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When can I see adult Leonard's skipper butterflies?
Adults are active from August through October.
Source: Wikipedia
What flowers do adult Leonard's skippers visit?
They sip nectar from plants such as Liatris punctata, thistles, asters and teasel.
Source: Wikipedia
Is there a similar species to Leonard's skipper?
Yes, the Pawnee skipper (subspecies pawnee) looks alike and lives from western Montana and southeastern Saskatchewan east to Minnesota and south to central Colorado and Kansas.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperia_leonardus
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.