Thorybes bathyllus Hodges #3909
Southern Cloudywing
Synonym(s): Cecropterus bathyllus Herrich-Schäffer, 1869
Florida native
Southern cloudywings are found in a variety of habitats including meadows, savannas, scrubby fields woodlands and along streams in much of the eastern United States and west into Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma.
These skippers have brown wings with transparent spots and often a frosted trailing edge. The submarginal area of the forewing has a row of small aligned white spots. Near the costa is a spot in the shape of an hourglass in a row of white spots nearly traversing the forewing, usually with one spot offset. Wingspans are 32-38mm (1-1/4 to 1-1/2 in.). The eyes have a white ring.
Host plants are various members of the pea family - Fabaceae.
This butterfly is shown on a blackeyed Susan flower (Rudbeckia hirta).
Thorybes bathyllus is a member of the Hesperiidae - Skippers family.
Other species of the Thorybes genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Thorybes confusis - CONFUSED CLOUDYWING
Thorybes pylades - NORTHERN CLOUDYWING
iNaturalist profile for this species
For more information on this species, visit the following link:
Bugguide.net page for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 06, 2025
