Violet-clouded Skipper

Lerodea arabus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae

Also called: Olive-clouded Skipper

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Violet-clouded Skipper
Photo: johnyochum, CC BY

The violet-clouded skipper, scientific name Lerodea arabus, is a grass skipper butterfly in the family Hesperiidae.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The violet-clouded skipper (Lerodea arabus) belongs to the grass skipper group of butterflies in the Hesperiidae family.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

This species lives in Central America and North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range includes Central America and North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 3 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Arizona, Texas, New Mexico.

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

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Violet-clouded Skipper photo 2
Photo: Roger Rittmaster, CC BY
Violet-clouded Skipper photo 3
Photo: Lauren McLaurin, CC BY
Violet-clouded Skipper photo 4
Photo: Isaac Ethington, CC BY
Violet-clouded Skipper photo 5
Photo: Andrew Meeds, CC BY

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/Lerodea_arabus

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 2026-10-25.

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.