Greenland Noctuid Moth vs Regent Skipper

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Greenland Noctuid Moth Regent Skipper
Scientific Name Sympistis zetterstedtii Euschemon rafflesia
Order Lepidoptera Lepidoptera
Family Noctuidae Hesperiidae
Size 24-30 mm wingspan 5-6 cm wingspan
Habitat Tundra & Arctic Forests
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Greenland, Arctic Canada, Svalbard, Arctic Scandinavia Australia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Greenland Noctuid Moth

A small, cryptically patterned moth with mottled gray and brown forewings. It is one of the few noctuid moths that has adapted to life in the High Arctic. Adults fly during the continuous daylight of the polar summer.

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Did You Know?

Unlike most noctuids, which are nocturnal, this moth flies during the Arctic day because there is no true night during the polar summer.

Regent Skipper

A large, strikingly colored skipper butterfly with black wings marked by bold yellow and blue patches. It is the only skipper in the world that couples its wings like a true butterfly.

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Did You Know?

It is so unique it is placed in its own subfamily, Euschemoninae, found nowhere else on Earth.