Crossline Skipper (Polites origenes)

Statewide distribution in NC being most common in the piedmont, Crossline Skippers are two brooded, appearing in May and flying well into the fall. This species is quite variable in appearance and can be confused with several other skippers.


Wake Co., NC 25 May 2008	Wake Co., NC 25 May 2008

Crossline Skippers (Polites origenes)
Falls Lake, Wake Co., NC
25 May 2008


Durham Co., NC 30 May 2003	Orange Co., NC 25 May 2004

From below, Crossline Skippers vary from orangish to brownish and from being nearly unmarked to having a strong postmedian band of pales spots. Males and females look similar from below.

Orange Co., NC 6 Jun 2006	Orange Co., NC 28 Sep 2005

		From above, males and females are quite distinct, with males (left) showing much more orange and a strong diagonal black line (stigma). Females (rignt) are mostly dark above with a few square spots in the middle of the forewing.
Orange Co., NC 19 May 2004	Orange Co., NC 6 Jun 2006


Orange Co., NC 25 May 2004	Orange Co., NC 16 May 2004


Durham, NC 20 Aug 2005	Male Durham Co., NC 20 Aug 2005


Male Orange Co., NC 25 May 2004	Male Orange Co., NC 16 May 2004


Male Chatham Co., NC 24 Sep 2005	Female Orange Co., NC 13 June 2008


Female Durham Co., NC 30 May 2003	Female Chatham Co., NC 24 Sep 2005


Female Orange Co., NC 21 Aug 2004	same individual

	I watched a Crossline Skipper lay this egg on the underside of a blade of grass (Panicum sp.) Orange Co., NC 29 May 2004


Crossline? Tawny-edge? Northern Broken-Dash? Orange Co., NC 25 May 2004

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Created on ... June 26, 2003 | Updated on June 29, 2008 | jspippen@duke.edu