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
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A public restroom or a tourist spot?
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A bridge that holds up history
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American bison in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
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Thousand Islands region, St Lawrence River, USA-Canada border
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Heads together
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Hang Sơn Đoòng, Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Vietnam
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Autumn colours below Mount Sneffels near Ridgway, Colorado, United States
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Annas hummingbird
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Elbe river in Dresden, Saxony, Germany
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Rocky Mountain run-off
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Puffins pucker up
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Boxing Day
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Halfway there
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Waterfall capital of the world?
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Mekong River Delta, Long An, Vietnam
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Ancient town of Sorano, Tuscany, Italy
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Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain
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Pegadung Rock, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia
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Nature at its colourful best
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Firefall at Yosemite
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World Lizard Day
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National Poetry Day
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Coco Beach, Goa, India
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Cheerful colours of a Cornwall classic
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International Nurses Day
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Huddled and hunting
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Nimble and stealthy
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Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, Canada
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Jorvik Viking Festival
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Secluded sands in Mexico