Ottoe skipper

Ottoe skipper is an early season branded skipper. It historically inhabited the mid-grass and tall grass prairies from the Great Plains east to southern Michigan and Arkansas. Once common, its numbers have been decimated due to habitat loss. It now occurs mostly on the Great Plains in small, scattered populations. Larvae feed in dry prairies on little bluestem, prairie dropseed, sideoats grama, and other grasses. Adults fly from mid-June to early August. They feed on flower nectar in dry prairies and nearby moist or wet prairies.

Adults are stout and have a wingspan of 1⅛″ to 11 11⁄16″ (29 to 43 mm). They are medium-sized skippers but large grass skippers.

The forewings are thin and angular. The upper side is bright orange with a broad, darker brown border. Near the middle there is a narrow area of black, specialized, scent scales (stigma). This is the “brand” that gives the genus its common name. There is a gray felty patch in the middle of the stigma but this is nearly impossible to see in the field. The forewing is otherwise unmarked. On the female the upper side of the forewing is brownish-orange. As with many skippers, there is a row of three small pale spots, the “wrist bracelet”, near the costal margin in the subapical area. There are also six pale squarish spots roughly forming a semicircle. The innermost spot is the largest and is translucent.

The hindwings are shorter and more rounded. The underside of the hindwing on both sexes is yellowish-orange. On the female there is a faint postmedian band of pale spots. On the male there are no spots.

The antennae are short and barred. Each antenna has a swelling (club) at the tip, and a pale, thin, hooked extension (apiculus) at the end of the club. There is not a white band below the club.

Wingspan: 1⅛″ to 11 11⁄16″ (29 to 43 mm)

Tall grass prairies

One generation per year: mid-June to early August

Little bluestem, prairie dropseed, sideoats grama, and other grasses

Flower nectar

Sources

6, 21, 24, 29, 30, 75, 82, 83.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 7/22/2025).

Rare

Skippers have traditionally been placed in their own superfamily Hesperioidea because of their morphological similarity. Recent phylogenetic analysis (Kawahara and Breinholt [2014]) suggests that they share the same common ancestor as other butterfly families, and thus belong in the superfamily, Papilionoidea.

Ottoe Skipper (Hesperiidae: Hesperia ottoe) on Leaf
Carl Barrentine

Location: Rushford area, Fillmore County