Skipper
Hesperiidae
Skipper · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 26 July 2025
A skipper on anise hyssop in the July border, the proboscis mid-uncurl. The grass skippers are butterflies of lawn and meadow across the continent, and a hyssop bed in Brooklyn in July has a few on it at any moment.
A family that often can't be safely named from a single angle. The tightly curled proboscis spends most of its life coiled like a watch spring and only extends to reach nectar. It works by hydraulics: the butterfly pumps blood into it to straighten it, and it recoils on its own.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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