Silver-spotted skipper

Epargyreus clarus

Butterfly

Large, fast skipper of woodland edges, gardens, meadows, and riparian openings, instantly recognizable by the bright silver-white patch on the underside of each hindwing. Larvae feed on legumes (Fabaceae), including false indigos, wisterias, locusts, hogpeanut, groundnut, and other pea-family hosts, and stitch folded leaf shelters with silk while they grow. Adults nectar widely, especially at pink, purple, red, blue, white, and cream flowers, and they also visit mud and mineral sources.

Conservation

NatureServe global rank Secure (G5); widespread and common, with no IUCN, Xerces Red List, or USFWS listing. Supporting it is straightforward habitat gardening: keep a local Fabaceae host patch plus nectar flowers through summer, and avoid spraying caterpillar shelters as "leaf damage."

Plants in the catalog

Larval host plants · 1

Groundnut

Apios americana

Documented

Both the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and NC State Extension document Apios americana as a larval host for the Silver-spotted Skipper; this species-level row replaces the old generic skipper-only surface for planning and wildlife detail pages.

Range

Southern Canada through most of the United States to northern Mexico; absent or scarce in the Great Basin and far western Texas.

Sources & citations

Cite this page

Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife page. The source cards below show the upstream references behind the taxonomy, range, conservation, host, forage, and habitat claims.

Plotwright. (n.d.). Silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus). Retrieved 2026, June 27, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/silver-spotted-skipper

Sources for wildlife facts

11 cited fact fields are backed by the source cards below.

Butterflies and Moths of North America: Silver-spotted skipper

Species profile for range, flight season, legume larval hosts, and adult nectar behavior.

Backs 5 fields

Taxonomy

Range

Lifecycle

Host plants

Foraging

Open source