This large, long-winged skipper has a wingspan of 1 3/4 – 2 3/8 inches. Dorsally, it is brown with a broad band of gold, squarish spots across the middle of the forewing. Ventrally, the hindwing is dark brown with a large, silver patch almost all the way across the wing. The fringes of the wings are checkered brown and white. The abdomen is covered with dense tawny-colored hairs. The mature caterpillars are about 1 1/2 inches long. They have a dark, brown head with 2 bright, orange eye spots. The body is bright yellow with narrow, dark green crossbands and has a wrinkled appearance.
This skipper is common in mid-summer to fall nectaring on flowers. They almost never visit yellow flowers, but prefer purple, pink, red, blue and sometimes white flowers.
They usually perch with wings closed, but may bask with wings open in early morning sun. The caterpillars hide in silken nests in leaves during the day and feed at night. The pupa overwinters in leaf litter and the adults emerge in the spring. Host plants are legumes including locusts, tick trefoils, false indigo and alfalfa.
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