What Are Skippers?

What is a skipper?

Although they used to be considered their own independent superfamily, skippers are a type of butterfly that are distinguished by their antennae. If you look closely, you’ll see that their antennae have an elongated curved tip to the club. Within this larger group, there are two subgroups: folded-wing skippers and spread-wing skippers.

Guiding Question: Compare this skipper to a another butterfly that you’re familiar with (like a monarch). What differences do you see between them? What similarities?

Some common skippers

The Nature Museum’s Butterfly Garden is a hot spot for a variety of butterflies, including skippers. Some common ones that you might spot include the silver-spotted skipper and the fiery skipper. Check out this at-a-glance graphic to see six common Illinois skippers side-by-side.

Guiding Question: What do you notice about these skippers? Which ones do you think are spread-wing skippers? Folded-wing? Why do you think that?

Make your own butterfly life cycle flip flap book

(Disponible en español)

From egg to larva to pupa to adult, butterflies go through an incredible transformation! Click here to download your own life cycle flip flap book in both English and Spanish.

Teaching Tip: Need a refresher on the butterfly life cycle? Click here to check out our video on the monarch life cycle.

Exploring butterfly camouflage

(Disponible en español)

We’ve got a great Story Time recommendation for today! It explores the amazing world of butterfly (and caterpillar) camouflage! It’s “The Magic School Bus: Butterfly and the Bog Beast” and you can check it out in English here and in Spanish here.

Make a camouflaged butterfly

(Disponible en español)

We’ve seen lots of examples of butterfly camouflage, both in the book we just read and in the skippers we saw above. Let’s take some time to craft our own camouflaged butterfly. Click here for instructions in English and Spanish.

Guiding Question: Was the butterfly you created easy to find? Could you change your butterfly to make it blend in more?

Behind the Scenes

Speaking of skippers, Dr. Doug, our chief curator, encountered this beautiful arctic skipper when he visited the Moosejaw National Wildlife Refuge last year. Although it may not look like it in this photo, this butterfly is actually pretty small⁠—about the size of your thumbnail!