Checkered Skippers - Eternal Optimists

The Common Checkered Skipper is one of several butterfly species that appear in this area during late summer or fall.  They are residents of areas south of Blue Jay Barrens and cannot survive the cold winters we typically experience.  Taking advantage of warm summer weather, they expand their range northward, often establishing temporary populations all the way into Canada. 

Plants of the Mallow family serve as host plants for the Checkered Skipper caterpillars.  I always leave a few Common Mallow plants growing along the foundation on the south side of the house to be used by the skippers.  This area warms quickly in the sun and retains heat during the day, attracting skippers by the dozens.

I don’t normally find this species still here in November, but with temperatures well above normal and an absence of overnight freezes, the skippers are still going strong.

The prime activity of the day is reproduction.  Female Checkered Skippers are hurriedly loading the mallow leaves down with eggs.

Not a leaf has been missed.  The eggs, although fertile and numerous, have no futures.  Cold weather will soon cause the death of all life stages of this cute little creature.  New individuals will move in next summer to take another try at making this area part of their permanent range.  One day, if average temperatures continue trending upward, the Checkered Skipper could earn its place as a new year-round resident of Blue Jay Barrens.

Checkered Skipper

One of the things I enjoy about autumn is the influx of southern species attempting to increase their range. My yard is suddenly overrun with Checkered Skippers, an attractive species that annually migrates into areas in which it has no chance of long term survival. These annual migrants are species that are ready to take advantage of any change that allows them to exploit new territory. Should we have a winter mild enough to allow Checkered Skippers to survive into spring, they will be here ready to start building a population as soon as it is warm enough in the spring.

These butterflies have no idle time. They are busy laying eggs in an attempt to establish a colony in this spot. Although doomed to failure, they have to try. This is the type of species most likely to survive catastrophe. If conditions change rapidly enough to make survival impossible in their current home range, one of these colonies could mean continuance of the species.

The female Checkered Skippers spent most of their time down in the plant hunting for the best place in which to lay an egg. It was really tough finding one that would sit still long enough for a good look.

When not laying eggs, they were busily looking for the next host plant. Checkered Skipper larvae feed on various mallows, with the Common Mallow, Malva neglecta, being most frequently used. This is interesting because Common Mallow, in fact all species of Malva, are non-natives that arrived in this country from Europe or Asia. This particular plant is a common weed around many homes. The skipper probably wasn’t very common here until people changed the landscape and encouraged the spread of this opportunistic plant.

Eggs were most commonly placed on the undersides of leaves, with most leaves having at least one egg attached. The weather is supposed to stay warm for a while, so I’m hoping to observe some of the caterpillars.

Eggs were most commonly placed on the undersides of leaves, with most leaves having at least one egg attached. The weather is supposed to stay warm for a while, so I’m hoping to observe some of the caterpillars.