CLOSED: Least or Delaware Skipper?

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greenthumb99 Lucketts, VA(Zone 7a) Jul 29, 2014

Can't decide if this is a Least or Delaware Skipper. Please help. Thanks

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CatMint20906 Silver Spring, MD(Zone 7a) Jul 29, 2014

hi, Greenthumb. To me it looks more like a Least Skipper. The Delaware Skipper appears to have less black on the edges of its wings, plus it has black veins near the margins, which I don't see on this Skipper.

Is it a small skipper?

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zidan Argel, Algeria Jul 29, 2014

I'm not a specialist, only an enthusiast but I think it's a Delaware. Like CatMint said, it do not have the black veins on the wings. Too be more acurate we should look at it's wings open - the Least Skipper has a dusky-dark color under the wings.

Other thing to analyze: I think it's too huge (maybe the photo is faking me) to be a Least Skipper...

So, my vote is to Delaware

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Flapdoodle Minot, ND Jul 29, 2014

Both of these species demonstrate enough variability in wing markings to make me leery of attempting a positive i.d without knowing the size of the critter. That aside, I'm leaning a bit to a Delaware...

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greenthumb99 Lucketts, VA(Zone 7a) Jul 29, 2014

Thank you for your input everyone. Specimen was a fairly small skipper.

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C_A_Ivy Barling, AR(Zone 7b) Jul 29, 2014

A male Zabulon skipper, Poanes zabulon . Although similar, Delaware skippers have a continuous spotband above and some open brown cell area which this specimen does not exhibit.

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Flapdoodle Minot, ND Jul 30, 2014

Completely overlooked that one :-( - Grass skippers always give me fits...

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greenthumb99 Lucketts, VA(Zone 7a) Jul 30, 2014

I think C_A_Ivy has it! Skippers need to come with bar codes. Thanks everyone on this problematic ID.

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CatMint20906 Silver Spring, MD(Zone 7a) Jul 30, 2014

Barcodes--LOL

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