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They benefit from nectar-rich blooms such as the lantana shown in my garden here.

I welcome these lovely butterflies into my garden. Long-tailed Skipper caterpillarWhen disturbed the caterpillars will spit out a bright green fluid. Farmers sometimes look on these caterpillars as pests. The carterpillars use the tubes as retreats when they are not feeding. This species flies in most of the eastern United States as. Caterpillars will cut the leaves and roll the edges into tubes, which are held together by silken strands the caterpillars extrude for the purpose. The Long-tailed Skipper butterfly (Urbanus proteus) is a common butterfly in the southeastern US. Host plants for the Long-tailed Skipper are primarily legumes, such as beans, peas, begger weeds and wisteria. Long Tailed Skipper ButterflyNatural History Prints by wildlife illustrator and author Ben Rothery.Taken from his books, Bens wildlife prints are inspired. It is also found in parts of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. When viewed from beneath the wings are decorated with two dark brown bands. From above, the butterfly’s wings are brown and marked with light-colored spots. Long-tail skippers are found throughout the southeastern US, as well as some very southern portions of the western US. The bases of its wings and body are cloaked in long blue-green scales that give them a shaggy appearance. He will try to chase off anything else, including humans. If it is a female Long-tailed Skipper, he is a happy critter and immediately tries to mate with her.

He perches, looking out over his territory, and he will fly at anything that enters the area. The male of this species is very territorial. It flies in an erratic pattern, skipping around, thus the name "skipper." You may mistake it for a moth, but it is more related to the butterflies. As it skips around your garden, you will notice the iridescent green running along the topside of its body and spilling over into the base of the wings. Key differentiating features of long-tail skippers: vibrant blue coloring on the top of their wings, long wing tails extending from the base of their hind wings, characteristic hooked antennae tips (common in skippers versus butterflies). It is a common visitor to my Houston area gardens. This butterfly is primarily brownish but is distinguished by its beautiful, iridescent green body and wing bases and long, half-inch tails extending behind its hindwings. This long-tailed skipper is found east of the I-35 corridor up to about Dallas. It may have been a Long-tailed Skipper, Urbanus proteus. The adult butterfly of Chiodes catillus is the longest-tailed of the long-tailed skippers (in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica), along with its 'look-alike', Chiodes zilpa (below), which has a slightly different white pattern on the underside of the hindwings. Besides the species that have been documented in Alabama, sources from other states report that larvae feed on Hogpeanut ( Amphicarpa bracteata ) and Soybean ( Glycine max ). Have you ever been in the garden, minding your own business, when suddenly you were attacked by a butterfly? Long-tailed Skippers use many legumes, both wild and cultivated, as their caterpillar hosts.