Mating pair of Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper ( Pyrgus armoricanus) When at rest, skippers keep their wings usually angled upwards or spread out, and only rarely fold them up completely. Some have larger wings, but only rarely as large in proportion to the body as in other butterflies. Unlike, for example, the Arctiinae, though, their wings are usually small in proportion to their bodies. Skippers also have generally stockier bodies and larger compound eyes than the other two groups, with stronger wing muscles in the plump thorax, in this resembling many moths more than the other two butterfly lineages do. Nevertheless, skippers have the antennae clubs hooked backward like a crochet hook, while the typical butterflies have club-like tips to their antennae, and moth-butterflies have feathered or pectinate (comb-shaped) antennae similar to moths. Ĭollectively, these three groups of butterflies share many characteristics, especially in the egg, larval, and pupal stages. The third and rather small butterfly superfamily is the moth-butterflies (Hedyloidea), which are restricted to the Neotropics, but recent phylogenetic analyses suggest the traditional Papilionoidea are paraphyletic, thus the subfamilies should be reorganised to reflect true cladistic relationships. Traditionally, the Hesperiidae were placed in a monotypic superfamily Hesperioidea, because they are morphologically distinct from other Rhopalocera (butterflies), which mostly belong to the typical butterfly superfamily Papilionoidea. More than 3500 species of skippers are recognized, and they occur worldwide, but with the greatest diversity in the Neotropical regions of Central and South America. Moreover, skippers mostly have an absence of wing-coupling structure available in most moths. Most have their antenna tips modified into narrow, hook-like projections. They are named for their quick, darting flight habits. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea however, the most recent taxonomy places the family in the superfamily Papilionoidea, the butterflies. ![]() ![]() Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). Western blue policeman ( Pyrrhiades lucagus)
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