Garden Pests and Diseases: Friend or Foe #2, 1 by Night_Bloom

Night_Bloom wrote:
This last skipper is a common garden visitor in the south - the long-tailed skipper (Urbanus proteus). I think they are rather pretty. A related species, Urbanus dorantes, has similar tails, but no blue coloration. It is common in Texas.

These are common in gardens because the caterpillar is the bean leaf roller - which I happen to think are cute critters myself. They will eat bean leaves, but generally don't eat too much, and because I like the skippers visiting my garden, I let them be. They make themselves a home by rolling back a section of bean leaf to hide behind. I have pictures which I may post in the future, but for now, here is the adult...