• Butterflies
• Dragonflies
• Damselflies
• Tiger beetles
• Hike with Mike

• The butterflies:
• Skippers
  • Spread-wing Skippers
  • Skipperlings
  • Grass-Skippers
• Spread-wing Skippers
  • Silver-spotted Skipper
  • Hoary Edge
  • Southern Cloudywing
  • Northern Cloudywing
  • Hayhurst’s Scallopwing
  • Dreamy Duskywing
  • Sleepy Duskywing
  • Juvenal’s Duskywing
  • Horace’s Duskywing
  • Mottled Duskywing
  • Funereal Duskywing
  • Columbine Duskywing
  • Wild Indigo Duskywing
  • Persius Duskywing
  • Common Checkered-Skipper
  • Common Sootywing

Wild Indigo Duskywing

(Erynnis baptisiae)

The Wild Indigo Duskywing is one of the trickiest Duskywings to identify in Wisconsin. Many authors say that this species and the Columbine Duskywing are probably not identifiable in the field, except when in association with their host plants. The host plant of the Columbine Duskywing is Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), which is found throughout Wisconsin.

Historically, the host plants of the Indigo Duskywing in Wisconsin have probably been several species of Wild Indigo (Baptisia), Lupine (Lupinus), or other legumes. In the last thirty-some years the Wild Indigo Duskywing has also added the Crown Vetch (Coronilla varia) as a host plant, a species that has been planted along roadsides for erosion control, and this species has been using these roadside corridors to increase its range throughout the east. The problem is that in the western part of the state, along the bluffs especially, Wild Columbine may be present in the bluffs, while along the roads below, Crown Vetch adorns the roadside ditches. So, if you see a Duskywing, you really can’t tell which species it may be by using the host plants. In addition, using the host plants may not be entirely accurate, since Wild Indigo Duskywing has been raised on (Aquilegia) in the lab.

All Wild Indigo/Columbine Duskywings that I have seen and photographed have been in counties along the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Many of the skippers were in view of Crown Vetch and I assumed that they were Wild Indigo Duskywings, but from what I have read since then, I am unsure as to the identification of these photographs. I hope to study this further this year, but until then I will leave these photos here, with the realization that they may not be accurately identified.

Identifying characteristics: A dark brown skipper with four misaligned white, hyaline spots on the forewing and a prominent lighter patch next to those. In “The Butterflies of Canada” they also note that there usually is a distinct orange brown patch below the lighter patch. There are also several other white spots. This skipper is also noted as being darker in the inner half, and somewhat oily looking, as seen in the bottom photo.

Similar species: The Columbine Duskywing is certainly the most similar species in Wisconsin. The Columbine Duskywing (forewing length usually 13–15 mm) is smaller than the Wild Indigo Duskywing (forewing length usually 16–18 mm), but both are usually identified also by using its distribution and association with the host plant. The Persius Duskywing is also very similar, but it has the four white, hyaline spots arranged in a straight row. Male persius Duskywings also have white hairs scattered throughout the upper forewing and these are lacking in the Wild Indigo Duskywing.

Habitat: Large open areas, but increasingly more common along roadsides and railroad tracks, where Crown Vetch is found.

Flight: This species has two broods in Wisconsin, with the first brood occurring in late May through June and the second in July and into August.

Abundance: Often seen singly, but sometimes seen in larger numbers, especially where large colonies of the host plant Crown Vetch occurs.

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