Pictured here are several Purple Coneflowers that are feeding at least two species of skipper butterfly (Hesperia spp.) and one flower scarab beetle. These flowers have recently opened and are producing lots of nectar while the nearby countryside has few active nectar sources.

In this image you can see by the white spots on the undersides of the hindwings that there are two different kinds of skipper butterflies present. Notice that they are oblivious to the beetle and vice versa.
You can also see the proboscis of each butterfly which allow them to harvest nectar from deep within the flowers. The beetle doesn’t have these specialized mouthparts and cannot get to the skipper’s nectar. This allows both species to use the Coneflower as a food source by consuming different parts of it.

Both species of skippers hold their wings upright and tightly together which makes it difficult or impossible to see the characters needed to determine which species is which. I can only say with confidence these butterflies belong to the genus Hesperia in the Skipper family: Hesperiidae. If you look closely at this image, you can count 3 butterflies and one beetle.

The scarab beetle belongs to the Scarabaeidae family and its flower beetle subfamily Cetoniidae. I have scoured the internet unsuccesfully to find this creature’s species name. Images of Cyclocephala spp. are similar to this specimen but I found nothing that matched the markings of this creature. Such is the problem with using just photographs to identify some critter you have never seen before. Insects, in particular, usually require the specimen in hand and a good wide-field microscope to use the descriptive keys developed by entomologists to pin down just what species you have. Sometimes, you find some critter that hasn’t been described yet. Beetles are a broad and diverse group and not all of them are known to science. Thus, I cannot offer more than my best guess of the species names of the insects pictured here.

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The Common Checkered-skipper butterfly, Pyrgus communis, is found in the Southern United States during February through October. Its remarkable white bands across fore and hind wing coupled with the blue-gray hairs on the head and thorax make this small butterfly easy to spot. They are difficult to photograph because the don’t stay in one place very long.

In this image, you can see the cream and white markings of the underside of the wings while this member of the Skipper family (Hesperiidae) feeds from the disk flowers of the White Prairie Aster. The Common Checkered-skipper likes open woodland, or grassland with a variety of flowering plants.

Members of the Asteraceae flower family produce flower heads that look like a single flower but they are really a composite of multiple flowers. Each petal has a flower at its base and each part of the yellow disk is an individual flower. The 1 inch diameter flowers of the Prairie Aster give you an indication of the size of our butterfly friend.

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The Meridian Skipper, Erynnis meridianus, is unrolling his proboscis in preparation for gathering nectar from the Dakota Vervain flowers he is on. Visible here are the transparent spots on a uniform brown colored underside of the wings.

The Meridian Skipper is a member of the Hesperiidae or Skipper family of butterflies. This specimen is busily nectaring from a Dakota Vervain flower. I am always amazed at the way these tiny beings are able to locate and probe complex flower parts with their “long straw”.

This image shows a Meridian Skipper rolling up his proboscis in preparation for moving to another flower. His species belongs to the subfamily Pyrginae which are the Open-Winged Skippers. This individual has his wings partially open which is acceptable for membership in this group. It is also handy to be able to see the wing markings and colors which help identify this little fella. Note the white “fringe” on the wing margins.

In this final image, you can see the proboscis almost completely coiled for storage prior to flight. What an incredible, complex appendage in such “simple” creatures.

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