Bug FAQRhesus Skipper
Yvretta rhesus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
The Rhesus skipper is a small butterfly with a wingspan of about 25 to 30 mm. It lives in short-grass and mixed-grass prairies across the central United States and into southern Canada. One generation appears each year in May and June.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Polites rhesus, called the Rhesus skipper or plains gray skipper, belongs to the butterfly family Hesperiidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan ranges from 25 to 30 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It inhabits short-grass and mixed-grass prairie areas.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on grasses such as blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis). Adults sip nectar from flowers like Drummond's milkvetch (Astragalus drummondii).
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There is a single generation that flies in May and June.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing during May and June.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 10 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, South Dakota, Montana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska.
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
Questions people ask
When are Rhesus skippers active?
Adults are active in May and June, which is when the single yearly generation occurs.
Source: Wikipedia
Where can I find Rhesus skippers?
They live in short-grass and mixed-grass prairie habitats across the central US and into southern Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polites_rhesus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.