When it comes to fast flyers with a flair for flowers, the skipper butterfly makes quite the landing. These pint-sized pollinators are easy to miss—until you spot one zipping through your garden as if it"s late for an appointment. Catch one pausing on an Echinacea flower—like the one photographed at the Rockefeller State Park in New York, United States—and you"ve hit the jackpot. Skippers aren"t your average butterflies. Technically part of the superfamily Papilionoidea, they"re often mistaken for moths thanks to their stout bodies and erratic flight patterns. But unlike moths, they"re active by day, have clubbed antennae with a hook at the end and wings they usually hold at quirky angles. Their name? It comes from their quick, darting flight.
Skipper butterfly on an Echinacea flower
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Roques de Benet, Els Ports Natural Park, Catalonia, Spain
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Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
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World Environment Day
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Lake Ontario, Toronto, during winter
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A duckling swimming in a water meadow, Suffolk, England
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Superbloom in Carrizo Plain National Monument, California, United States
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Part science experiment, part public park
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Wind-powered ice racing
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International Day for Biological Diversity
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Abraham Lake, Alberta
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God’s Own Country
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Przewalskis horses, Hustai National Park, Mongolia
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It’s time for the Calgary Stampede!
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Anniversary of Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah, United States
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Serra de Tramuntana, Balearic Islands, Majorca, Spain
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Spanning the soft sunlight
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Incan ingenuity
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A rainbow that’s worth the rainfall
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Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China
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Green sea turtle
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Vancouver International Boat Show
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Banff National Park, Alberta
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Postcard from Italy
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Tour de France 2024
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Tasmans Arch, Tasman National Park, Tasmania, Australia
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Wheaton River, Yukon
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Festival fever
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The ‘eighth wonder?’
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Red fox mother kissing her baby
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Birch trees, Drammen, Norway