Northern white-skipper
Heliopetes ericetorum
The northern white-skipper is a white skipper butterfly from the dry west of North America. The male is mostly white with black zigzag marks along the edges of his wings. The female has bigger, darker edge marks and more grey near her body.
Lives in
The western United States and Baja California in Mexico, in dry, open country and desert mountains
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is a gentle butterfly.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of mallow plants.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
Northern white-skipper about 30 km/h (19 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It has two families each year, and the butterflies can be seen from April to October.
2
It lives in open woods, dry stream beds and desert mountains.
3
Its caterpillars eat several kinds of mallow, including globe mallows and marsh mallows.
you asked
Most asked questions about Northern white-skipper
?What does the northern white-skipper eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of mallow plants.
?Where does the northern white-skipper live?
In the dry west of the United States and in Baja California, Mexico.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Heliopetes ericetorum
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Hesperiidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Hesperiidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Heliopetes ericetorum (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Shahan Derkarabetian. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Monarch butterfly
Peacock butterfly
Blue morpho
Old World swallowtail
Small white
Eastern tiger swallowtail
Namib Desert dune ant
Heath snail
Bindweed turret bee
Gopher tortoise tick
Lapidary snail
Greek spoonwing