Skippers at Sunset

Overlooked but not unloved

Skipper butterfly posed on a lillypilly leaf, Atherton Tablelands, FNQ. © Bronwen Scott.

They skip through the air in a stop/start, rise/fall, quick/slow, tango/rumba/salsa type of flight. Their motion gives them the common name of Skippers. Oh, to be sure, some are called Darts and Darters and Swifts for their no nonsense A-to-B flying. But most have this fluttery way.

More than 3,500 species of Skippers are found across the world. They are…