Bug FAQUmber Skipper
Lon melane · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
The Umber Skipper is a small butterfly with a wingspan of about 1.3 to 1.4 inches (32 to 35 mm).
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Upper wing surfaces are umber or reddish-brown with lighter spots on the forewing and orange patches on the hindwing; the underside is brown with spots.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from 32 to 35 mm (about 1.3 to 1.4 in).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in desert foothills, grassy fields, stream edges, roadsides, yards, parks and open oak woodlands.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults sip nectar from flowers. Caterpillars eat leaves of many grasses such as Bermuda grass, St. Augustine grass, ryegrass and others.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing in spring (March-May) and fall (September-October).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 9 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, Utah.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_melane
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.