Skipper on a spotted lily
Hesperiidae
Skipper · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 21 July 2024
A skipper on a spotted lily in the July border, legs planted on the pollen-laden stamens and working the anthers rather than the nectar. Skippers are butterflies of meadow and garden across the continent, and the grass skippers breed in the lawns and rough grass of every park in the city.
The stout body, hooked antennae and fast, whirring flight separate this family from the true butterflies at a glance, though pinning it to a species from a photograph isn't something I'd want to do. The spots on the lily are an invitation: they guide a visitor to the centre of the flower, and the lily doesn't much mind what kind.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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