Beautiful Butterflies! #1

Hi everyone and Happy Friday! It’s another cloudy, but mild, day here with a temperature of 18F (-8C). We did have some freezing fog again this morning too but that is gone now though it left the trees with a slightly frosty look. Not as frosty as it is sometimes though, guess the freezing fog didn’t stay around long enough.

Well, I am continuing my look at insects that I began last year, but I’m doing it a bit different by dividing it into groups of insects, such as butterflies that we had been looking at before. I won’t go over the same butterflies though, I’ll just begin where I left off. We do have a lot of different butterflies around and that’s the same all around the world.

Arctic Skipper

Today’s butterfly is the Arctic Skipper which is found all over the world, though in the more northern areas. Apparently they are in serious decline in places like the UK and Japan. Here they are fairly common, though trying to get a photo of one has been a challenge. I have succeeded though. They are a small butterfly with a wingspan of 1 to 1 1/4 inches (2.5 to 3.1cm).

They are dark brown with orange spots on top and an orangish color with large white spots under the wings. Their main flight period is from mid May to early July and they overwinter as a caterpillar. I hope you enjoy our look at this beautiful little butterfly. Have a great day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin. ©2026 Steve McLeod.