These skipper caterpillars can often be found nearly side by side on their host plants. The caterpillar on the left with the yellow racing stripes is a Long Tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus). The fuzzy larvae on the right with the pale green colors and rows of cream colored diamond shapes is a Dorantes Skipper (Urbanus dorantes).
Their larva have a very interesting way of helping to protect themselves from predators. These tiny little caterpillars, also known as "bean leaf rollers", will chew one the leaves of their host plants and leave a flap of leaf. Using silk from their spinnerets the caterpillars will fold the leaf flap over and secure it to the leaf. This 
creates tiny little pockets on the leaves in which the caterpillars can hide.
Skipper larvae generally have a thin ‘neck’ just before their bulbous heads. Both of these skippers are currently feeding on "Florida Beggarweed" (Desmodium tortuosum) also known as "Dixie Ticktrefoil".
The genus Urbanus contains some 91 species and subspecies of skipper butterflies. This genus belongs to the subfamily Eudaminae and the tribe Pyrginae (spread-winged skippers). The subfamily Eudaminae contains some 55 genera found mostly in the neotropics.
1 comments:
Thanks! My wife found one of the Long-Tailed Skippers on her green bean plant. And you just helped me identify it. Awesomeness.
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