Butterfly and Moth Guide

Initially this guide displays common species likely to be flitting right now. Use the selectors below to view by color, include rare species, or search by name.

Over 100 species of butterflies and skippers have been identified in the Los Alamos area, and over 150 in the Jemez Mountains. This guide mainly includes the common species, but even some of these are difficult to tell apart. For example, we have 4 species of fritillaries with very subtle differences.

In addition, there are an equally large number of moths in the area. However, most moths are active at night they are not as readily observed. Therefore, this guide primarily focuses on the moths that are more obvious due to their size or the fact that they are active during the day. The easiest way to tell a moth from a butterfly is to look at the antennae. The moth has feathery or saw-edged antennae, while the butterfly has antennae that look like a long shaft with a bulb at the end. In addition, moths and butterflies tend to hold their wings differently. Moths tend to fold their wings down to form a tent over their abdomen, hiding it from view. In contrast, butterflies usually hold their wings vertically up over their backs.

Both butterflies and moths develop through a process of complete metamorphosis with four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The young are very different from the adults and often eat different types of food. Pictures of the caterpillar larva for many of the species in this guide are included.

Get current information by joining PEEC Butterfly Watchers and taking a look at PEEC’s Butterfly, Skipper, and Moth set on Flickr. Additional information can be found in Butterflies through Binoculars: The West and Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. Close-focusing binoculars are the best equipment for watching adult butterflies and moths.

Butterfly and Moth References

BugGuide
Butterflies and Moths of North America
Cary, S., 2009 Butterfly Landscapes of New Mexico. New Mexico Magazine
eNature
Glassberg, J., 2001 Butterflies Through Binoculars: The West. Oxford University Press
How to Build a Butterfly Garden

Subject Area Experts (all guides)

Steve Cary (butterflies)
Beth Cortright (insects)
Terry Foxx (invasive plants)
Leslie Hansen (mammals)
Richard Hansen (fish, mammals)
Dorothy Hoard (butterflies, trees)
Chick Keller (flowers, herbarium)
Shari Kelley (geology)
Kirt Kempter (geology)
Garth Tietjen (reptiles)
David Yeamans (birds)

Web Development and Content Management

Pat Bacha
Jennifer Macke
Graham Mark
Akkana Peck

Contact

Please contact us for local nature questions and sightings. We welcome comments, corrections, and additions to our guides.

For more information about local nature, please visit our Nature Blog or subscribe to PEEC This Week.

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Showing 11 of 83 butterflies and moths.
Common Checkered Skipper

Photo: Selvi Viswanathan

Common Checkered Skipper

Photo: Jerry Oldenettel

Common Checkered Skipper

Photo: Todd Stout

Common Checkered Skipper, Checkered Skipper

(Pyrgus communis)

Family: Hesperidiidae (Skippers)
Size: 1 - 1.5 in (3 - 4 cm)
Color: black, gray
Flits: May 15 - Sep 15

Status: native; common
Food source: nectar from white-flowered composites
Host: mallow family
Habitat: open, sunny places with low vegetation and some bare soil

Male has blue-gray body, while female has black body. Found both at high and low elevations.

Info    Photos   
Edward's Skipperling

Photo: Selvi Viswanathan

Edward's Skipperling

Photo: Alan Schmierer

Edward's Skipperling

Photo: Jim P. Brock

Edward's Skipperling

(Oarisma edwardsii)

Family: Hesperidiidae (Skippers)
Size: 0.9 - 1.1 in (2 - 3 cm)
Color: orange
Flits: Jun 01 - Sep 01

Status: native; uncommon
Food source: flower nectar
Host: sedges and grasses
Habitat: grassy oak savannas

Edward's Skipperlings are known for their rapid, darting flight. The tips of their antennas have a narrow hook-like projection. Their wings have white fringes.

Info    Photos   
Funereal Duskywing

Photo: Earl Hoffman

Funereal Duskywing

Photo: © Kim Davis and Mike Stange

Funereal Duskywing

(Erynnis funeralis)

Family: Hesperidiidae (Skippers)
Size: 1.3 - 1.8 in (3 - 4 cm)
Color: black, brown
Flits: May 01 - Sep 30

Status: native; uncommon
Food source: nectar from flowers
Host: legumes including New Mexican locust, bur clover, deerweed, desert ironwood, and vetch
Habitat: deserts, arid lowlands, roadsides

Wings are black or dark brown with white hindwing fringes. Its forewing is narrow and pointed, and the hindwing somewhat triangular. It is named for its dark coloration.

Info    Photos   
Garita Skipperling

Photo: Bill Bouton

Garita Skipperling

Photo: Blaire Bradley

Garita Skipperling, Western Skipperling

(Oarisma garita)

Family: Hesperiidae (Skippers)
Size: 0.8 - 1.1 in (2 - 3 cm)
Color: orange
Flits: Jun 01 - Aug 01

Status: native; uncommon
Food source: flower nectar
Host: various grasses
Habitat: higher montane open grasslands

These small butterflies are orange brown above and under the forewings but gray with orange margins on the underside of the hindwings. They are weak flyers. Females lay their eggs on grass stems. Larvae are light green with a white stripes. They hibernate in their fourth stage.

Info    Photos   
Rocky Mountain Duskywing

Photo: Selvi Viswanathan

Rocky Mountain Duskywing

Photo: © Kim Davis and Mike Stangeland

Rocky Mountain Duskywing

Photo: Todd Stout

Rocky Mountain Duskywing

(Erynnis telemachus)

Family: Hesperidiidae (Skippers)
Size: 1.4 - 1.8 in (3 - 4 cm)
Color: gray
Flits: Apr 01 - Jul 30

Status: native; common
Food source: flower nectar
Host: Gambel oak
Habitat: open areas near woods

Gray forewings, brownish hindwings. Our most common duskywing, one of four that even experts have trouble telling apart.

Info    Photos   
Russet Skipperling

Photo: Joshua Smith

Russet Skipperling

Photo: Marion Stelts

Russet Skipperling

(Piruna pirus)

Family: Hesperiidae (Skippers)
Size: 1 - 1.1 in (3 - 3 cm)
Color: brown
Flits: May 15 - Aug 15

Status: native; uncommon
Food source: flower nectar
Host: wide leaved grasses
Habitat: grassy area along streams and meadows

Reddish brown underneath and dark brown on top with small white spots. They typically bask with forewings open to 45 degree and hindwings open wide. Like all Skippers they have a “bouncy” flight. Fully grown caterpillars hibernate.

Info    Photos   
Silver-spotted Skipper

Photo: Greg Lasley

Silver-spotted Skipper

Photo: Chick Keller

Silver-spotted Skipper

Photo: Tracy Hall

Silver-spotted Skipper

(Epargyreus clarus)

Family: Hesperidiidae (Skippers)
Size: 1.8 - 2.4 in (4 - 6 cm)
Color: brown
Flits: May 01 - Sep 30

Status: native; common
Food source: nectar from flowers including milkweed, red clover, and thistles
Host: New Mexico locust
Habitat: disturbed and open woods, foothill stream courses

Prominent large, splashy, silver mark on underside of hindwings.

Info    Photos   
Snow's Skipper

Photo: © Bill Bouton

Snow's Skipper

Photo: © Bill Bouton

Snow's Skipper

(Paratrytone snowi)

Family: Hesperiidae (Skippers)
Size: 1.1 - 1.4 in (3 - 4 cm)
Color: brown
Flits: Jul 01 - Aug 15

Status: native; uncommon
Food source: nectar; particularly of yellow and blue flowers
Host: grasses
Habitat: clearings in woodlands and along streams

This skipper is coppery brown all over with black markings on males.

Info    Photos   
Taxiles Skipper

Photo: Steven Mlodinow

Taxiles Skipper

Photo: Rozelle Wright

Taxiles Skipper

Photo: Todd Stuart

Taxiles Skipper

(Poanes taxiles)

Family: Hesperidiidae (Skippers)
Size: 1.3 - 1.7 in (3 - 4 cm)
Color: orange
Flits: May 01 - Sep 30

Status: native; uncommon
Food source: nectar from flowers
Host: grasses
Habitat: valley bottoms, high-plains cottonwood groves, shady areas

The sexes are dimporphic, with the males having yellow-orange colored wings with brown edges. Females are generally darker, with gray on the underwing. Its range extends from South Dakota and Nebraska south through the southern Rocky Mountains to central Mexico.

Info    Photos   
Uncas Skipper

Photo: Selvi Viswanathan

Uncas Skipper

Photo: Sam Kieschnick

Uncas Skipper

Photo: Selvi Viswanathan

Uncas Skipper

(Hesperia uncas)

Family: Hesperiidae (Skippers)
Size: 1.1 - 1.6 in (3 - 4 cm)
Color: black, brown
Flits: May 15 - Aug 01

Status: native; common
Food source: flower nectar
Host: blue grama grass and needlegrass
Habitat: open woodland, short grass areas

The Uncas Skipper larvae build themselves shelters out of silk and plant materials. These shelters are expanded as the larvae grows. The adults are very strong fliers. They have such a fast wing beat that they can appear to be just a blur to the human eye. These butterflies only live for about three weeks and lose scales as they age. This causes their wing patterns to slowly disappear and the wings themselves to become duller.

Info    Photos   
Western Branded Skipper

Photo: Greg Lasley

Western Branded Skipper

Photo: © Jim & Lynne Weber

Western Branded Skipper

(Hesperia colorado)

Family: Hesperidiidae (Skippers)
Size: 0.9 - 1.4 in (2 - 3 cm)
Color: orange
Flits: Jun 15 - Aug 15

Status: native; uncommon
Food source: nectar from asters and goldenrods as well as other flowers
Host: grasses
Habitat: open areas near forests and meadows

The species is found across the globe with slightly different appearance depending on the particular geographical region. Thus there are several different recognized subspecies. In addition, Hesperia colorado is considered an entirely different species than the Common Branded Hairstreak Hesperia comma which looks similar but is darker in color.

Info    Photos   
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