Back to Butterfly Index Least skipper Ancyloxypha numitor Wing span: 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 inches Caterpillar hosts plants: leaves of various grasses including giant cut grass, Zizaniopsis; rice cutgrass, Leersia Adult food: flower nectar of low-growing plants including chicory, Cichorium; milkweed, Asclepias; pickerelweed, Pontederia; swamp verbena, Verbena; thistle, Cirsium; white clover, Trifolium; wood sorrel, Oxalis Habitat: moist or wet open places with tall grasses such as ditches, marshes, slow streams, also hillsides or old fields with tall grasses Notes: males patrol for females in grassy areas, females lay eggs singly on grass blades, hibernates as third- and fourth-stage caterpillars. Back to Butterfly Index