Swarthy Skipper

Nastra lherminier · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Swarthy Skipper
Photo: Bill Keim, CC BY

The Swarthy Skipper has a wingspan of about 1 to 1.8 inches (2.5-2.9 cm). It occurs in Central America and North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The forewing may have two very faint light spots.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

The wingspan ranges from about 1 to 1.8 inches (2.5 to 2.9 cm).

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 27 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Ohio, Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Arkansas.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Swarthy Skipper photo 3
Photo: David Gorsline, CC BY
Swarthy Skipper photo 4
Photo: unknown, CC0
Swarthy Skipper photo 5
Photo: jonsense, CC BY
Swarthy Skipper photo 6
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY-SA

Same family (Hesperiidae)

Fiery SkipperFiery SkipperHylephila phyleusDamages trees, gardens or cropsSilver-spotted SkipperSilver-spotted SkipperEpargyreus clarusDamages trees, gardens or cropsHuron SkipperHuron SkipperAtalopedes huronLarge SkipperLarge SkipperOchlodes sylvanusZabulon SkipperZabulon SkipperLon zabulonPeck's SkipperPeck's SkipperPolites peckius

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nastra_lherminier

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.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.