Silver-Spotted Skipper

A frequent visitor to our lantana bushes, the Silver-Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) favors the red, pink, and purple flowers of the plant. Other preferred nectar plants include: everlasting pea, common milkweed, red clover, buttonbush, and thistles. It almost never visits yellow flowers and it is not known why that is.Adults of this butterfly species are known to perch upside down under leaves at night and on hot or cloudy days. To seek females, the males perch on branches and tall weeds, and occasionally will go out on patrol.

After mating, the females will lay single eggs near their host trees, and the caterpillars must find their proper host on their own. Host plants include: woody legumes such as black locust (Robinia pseudacacia), honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), and false indigo (Amorpha species). Also some herbaceous legumes such as Glycyrrhiza species.

The young caterpillars live in a folded leaf shelter, while the older ones live in a nest of silked-together leaves. And, according to Harper’s index of animal facts: The distance a silver-spotted skipper caterpillar can propel its own feces (called frass in the insect world) is 5 feet.

To read more interesting animal facts, though I warn that some are a little disturbing, see:
http://www.harpers.org/subjects/Animal/SubjectOf/Fact

References:
Butterflies and Moths of North America