This dainty orange butterfly can be found flitting around nectar plants in prairies with big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), its main host plant. However, there is evidence that Arogos Skipper is becoming more difficult to find across Oklahoma. Historically, the western and central portions of Oklahoma were native prairie, now the region is dominated by agriculture and human development. The loss of grassland habitat threatens the survival of grassland species, including the Arogos Skipper.
Illinois, New Jersey, and New York already list the skipper as endangered to their state. With rising concern for the Arogos Skipper, teams at the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) are currently conducting research to better understand the Arogos Skipper in Oklahoma.
Izzy Gonzales, master’s student the Hung lab, leads the OU team. Dakota Serra, master’s student the Hoback lab, leads the OSU team. Both teams began surveying for this species in the summer of 2025 and are continuing to survey during the summer of 2026. Overall, they aim to better understand the persistence of the Arogos Skipper across the Oklahoma landscape and to accurately inform future conservation plans for the species.
iNaturalist is an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature. It's also a crowdsourced species identification system and an organism occurrence recording tool. You can use it to record your own observations, get help with identifications, collaborate with others to collect this kind of information for a common purpose, or access the observational data collected by iNaturalist users.
It is simple to set up an account and start contributing to biodiversity science!
What we need is a photo of the skipper’s profile (outside of the wing) and (if possible) the inside of the wing. The inside of the wing photos might be harder to grab as the Arogos Skipper typically does not rest with its wings open. A clear photo of the outside of the wing can usually tell us if it is Arogos or not. Please also document the plant it is on (flower or grass) in a separate iNaturalist observation.
Upload your photos to iNaturalist with the tag “findmybutterfly” so our team can easily find them. You can also tag us in the iNaturalist post, our iNaturalist names are below. If your sighting is confirmed to be an Arogos, you will be eligible for a sticker as congratulations and thank you!
Adult Arogos are orange-gold skippers with white veins along the outside of the hindwings and grey or white fringe on the outer rim of both the fore and hindwing. The latter two characteristics set it apart from other skippers. The Delaware Skipper is closely related, similar in appearance, and common in Oklahoma. Careful observation is needed to distinquish the two (Shepherd, 2005; Brock et al., 2003).
There are two subspecies of the Arogos Skipper: A. arogos arogos and A. arogos iowa (Minno & Minno, 2006; Metzler et al., 2004). Only A. a. iowa occurs in the Great Plains and Oklahoma (Swengel & Swengel, 1999; Metzler et al., 2004; Geest et al., 2024). Historically, A. a. iowa was found in Oklahoma from the western tip of the panhandle, through central Oklahoma, and into the eastern prairies.
The other subspecies, A. a. arogos, is native to the east coast of North America (Minno & Minno, 2006; Opler & Krizek, 1984).
In Oklahoma, the caterpillar, or larval stages, of the Arogos Skipper rely primarily on big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) as their host plant, but is also known to occasionally eat little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium).
The adult butterfly sips nectar from a variety of flowers.
In Oklahoma, the Arogos Skipper uses big bluestem and on occasion little bluestem as larval host plants, making these grasses integral to the skipper’s life cycle (Brock et al., 2003; Glassberg, 2001). Prairies are present across most of our state—even in the eastern portion of the state dominated by forests. Extant populations of Arogos Skippers may still be widespread in our state in appropriate habitat.
Two generations occur during the growing season in the southern half of the North American Great Plains (Glassberg, 2001; Scott & Scott, 2020). Based on anecdotal data, the overall flight period for this skipper in Oklahoma begins in late May and ends in September. The first generation roughly begins toward the end of May and ends by the first week of July. The second generation roughly begins toward mid to late August and ends by late September (Scott & Scott, 2020; Shepherd, 2005). Though, the timing of both generations depends on the region within the state and environmental cues.
The Arogos Skipper overwinters as caterpillars. They remain in diapause until spring, when they complete pupation within a cocoon constructed with leaves. These cocoons are found in vegetation about 3 feet (1 meter) above the ground (Shepherd, 2005).
Historically, the western and central portions of Oklahoma flourished with undisturbed prairies, but are now dominated by agriculture and human development (Bureau of the Census, 1945; Risser et al., 1981; Coppedge et al., 2001). This habitat destruction is not isolated within Oklahoma, but the North American tall grass prairies as a whole have been reduced by roughly 86% from its original range across the continent (Samson et al., 2004). This loss of grassland habitat threatens the survival of grassland species, including the Arogos Skipper as grasslands are integral to the survival of the species.
Additional information about the butterfly and its conservation status on NatureServe Explorer.
Brock, J. P., Brock, J. P., & Kaufman, K. (2003). Kaufman field guide to butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Bureau of the Census. 1945. United States Census of Agriculture. U.S. Department of Commerce, Vol. 1. Washington D.C., USA
Coppedge, B. R., Engle, D. M., Fuhlendorf, S. D., Masters, R. E., & Gregory, M. S. (2001). Landscape cover type and pattern dynamics in fragmented southern Great Plains grasslands, USA. Landscape ecology, 16(8), 677-690.
Glassberg, J. (2001). Butterflies through binoculars: the west. Oxford University Press.
Geest, E. A., Moranz, R. A., & Baum, K. A. (2024). The effect of land use intensity and habitat characteristics on butterfly community composition within the Southern Great Plains of the United States. Grassland Research, 3(4), 306-317.
Heitzman, J.R. 1966. The life history of Atrytone arogos (Hesperiidae). J. Lepidopterists' Soc. 20(3):177-181.
Hoagland, B. (2000). The vegetation of Oklahoma: a classification for landscape mapping and conservation planning. The Southwestern Naturalist, 385-420.
Metzler, E. H., Shuey, J. A., Ferge, L. A., Henderson, R. A., & Goldstein, P. Z. (2004). Adapting a floral biogeography model to prairie-dependent Lepidoptera.
Minno, M. C., Minno, M., & Calhoun, J. V. (1996). Decline of the Arogos skipper in Florida. News of the Lepidopterists’ Society, 38, 175.
Minno, M. C., & Minno, M. (2006, October). Conservation of the Arogos Skipper, Atrytone arogos arogos (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in Florida. In Land of Fire and Water: The Florida Dry Prairie Ecosystem. Proc. Florida Dry Prairie Conf., Sebring, FL (pp. 5-7).
Opler, P. A., & Krizek, George O. (1984). Butterflies east of the Great Plains : an illustrated natural history / Paul A. Opler, George O. Krizek. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Risser, P. G., Birney, E. C., & Blocker, H. D. (1981). The true prairie ecosystem.
Samson, F. B., Knopf, F. L., & Ostlie, W. R. (2004). Great Plains ecosystems: past, present, and future. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 32(1), 6-15.
Scott, J. A., & Scott, J. A. (2020). Butterflies of the southern Rocky Mountains area, and their natural history and behavior.
Shepherd, M. D. 2005. Species Profile: Atrytone arogos. In Shepherd, M. D., D. M. Vaughan, and S. H. Black (Eds). Red List of Pollinator Insects of North America. CD-ROM Version 1 (May 2005). Portland, OR: The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
Swengel, A. B., & Swengel, S. R. (1999). Observations of Prairie Skippers (Oarisma Poweshiek, Hesperia Dacotae, H. Ottoe, H. Leonardus Pawnee, and Atrytone Arogos Iowa)[(Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae] in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota During 1988-1997. The Great Lakes Entomologist, 32(4), 5.
This photo is of a fresh Arogos Skipper not yet abused and worn by time, weather, or failed predation. During this time, when the Arogos is pristine, the striking “Arogos-orange” color is more vibrant than most skipper species you will encounter. Unscientifically, the OU team affectionately these “Therogos” as they are prime examples of the Arogos Skipper. The trait most often used to ID an Arogos is the outer wing’s fringe: a solid dark brown or black, sometimes a dark grey, to white gradient. However, it can also appear as a solid color, clearly lighter than the wing itself.
One of the most important identifying factors of this trait is that this fringe will never be orange. The second most important trait is the veins on the outer wing. These veins will appear light in color, and if in perfect condition, the skipper’s veins will appear bright white. These two traits, the fringe and veins, can be used to quickly ID a fresh Arogos with relative ease.
Arogos Skippers will not always appear with the typical defining features, especially later into the season when they become worn. In the later stages of life, they can appear dull in color, which can make it hard to see the identifying veins and fringe.
Wings become less opaque, with the inner wing pattern sometimes being visible from the outer view.
A well worn Arogos Skipper lacks the defining orange scales, white veins, and the fringe is heavily worn down. As Arogos skippers lose scales, the wear and tear create areas of gray and light brown. At later stages in the brood or skippers at this stage of life, the hairs left on the body appear very short and worn. These skippers are very difficult to identify as Arogos without viewing the inner wing.
These two Arogos Skippers are older. They lack bright orange scales and any obvious fringe.
The inner wing appears as a light orange—this color will be duller than the outer wings’ scales—with thick dark brown borders. A light brown dusting will radiate from where the wings meet the thorax and out toward the middle of the wing. This dusting of scales might imitate veins, but they will not be dark black or boldly defined like other skippers. Overall, this pattern should appear as a “dusting” of veins.
For some Arogos Skippers, this dusting will appear much darker manifesting as a single line of dark brown radiating from the junction of the wing and thorax, out toward the middle of the wing almost touching the dark border around the outside of the wings. This type of pattern is common in females, typically in conjunction with a thicker—occasionally darker—boarder encompassing almost the entire wing.
The inner wing of a female Arogos Skipper.
Beware the Delaware! The Delaware Skipper (Anatrytone logan) can be very hard to visually distinguish from an Arogos, especially when worn. The best trait to look for is a Delaware’s orange fringe or fringe matching the color of the wings exactly. Arogos fringe will either appear as a very defined black, dark grey, or dark brown to white gradient. Also remember, when worn, the Arogos’ fringe can appear as a solid color, slightly lighter than the wing scales themselves, but this fringe will never match the color of the wings’ scales exactly. A Delaware skipper will almost always have a fringe that matches the wing color completely.
There is a clear visual difference between the two species’ inner wings. The Delaware’s inner hindwing has defined dark veining radiating from the border of the wing, tapering toward the middle of the wing to form a “V” shaped junction. After this junction, a few veins will continue toward where the wing connects to the thorax. Usually, this pattern is visible from far away, especially if the skipper is sitting with its open wings. While the Arogos can appear to have similar patterning and veining, it’s rarely as defined as a Delaware’s.
Arogos Skippers do not typically sit with its wings open, which can also be a behavioral trait used to distinguish the two species from afar.
Another feature to keep in mind, is that the Arogos possess tufts “shoulder” hair (side of the body, just under where the wing connects to the thorax) which the Delaware skipper lacks.
The Swarthy Skipper is smaller than most Arogos, and is definitely darker in color with more metallic gold and bronze hues. It can be mistaken for Arogos due to its light-colored veining and fringe. These traits, along with its behavior of resting on native grasses, make it a confusing Arogos look-a-like.
Most Huron Skippers are not confused with Arogos. Usually Hurons have much darker scales and very defined patterns on the inner and outer wing. However, there is a lot of variation and some individuals can look similar to an Arogos, especially from a distance. They can appear in a striking “Arogos orange” color and possess a fairly defined “Arogos-like” wing fringe. Note the dot-like hatching on the wing's fringe; this is a dead giveaway for an imposter. The splotchy orange-white pattern on the outside of the hindwing, while common in many skippers, it is typical of the Hurons. Those splotches are rarely present on an Arogos Skipper.
Email: KLJHung@ou.edu
iNaturalist: kjhung
Field Technician
iNaturalist: check4ticks
