Whirlabout (Polites vibex)

Fairly common in the NC coastal plain and sandhills and fairly rare in the southern NC piedmont, this species flies from spring into fall. Recent taxonomic studies have split the south Texas (and farther south) Whirlabouts into a different species (Polites praeceps). I have included them at the bottom of this page as "Southern Whirlabout", and I expect the population in the eastern US to be called "Northern Whirlabout", although I am not yet changing the names on this page.


Whirlabout (Polites vibex), Male Sandhills Gamelands, NC 1 Oct 2006	Whirlabout (Polites vibex), Male Sandhills Gamelands, NC 1 Oct 2006

Whirlabout (Polites vibex), Male
New Hanover Co., NC
28 August 2004

Whirlabout (Polites vibex)
Harnett Co., NC
3 Sep 2006


Whirlabout (Polites vibex), Male Hoke Co., NC 12 Sep 2004	Whirlabout (Polites vibex), Female Hoke Co., NC 12 Sep 2004


Whirlabout (Polites vibex) Brunswick Co., NC 24 April 2004	Whirlabout (Polites vibex) Moore Co., NC 10 June 2006


Whirlabout (Polites vibex) New Hanover Co., NC 15 May 2004	Whirlabout (Polites vibex) New Hanover Co., NC 26 Aug 2006

Whirlabout (Polites vibex), Female
Craven Co., NC
26 Aug 2012

	These agile skippers (like many other species) can perch upside down to nectar. Johnston Co., NC 29 May 2005


Whirlabout (Polites vibex), Male Sandhills Gamelands, NC 1 Oct 2006	Whirlabout (Polites vibex), Male Brunswick Co., NC 25 Aug 2007

Whirlabout (Polites vibex)
Pender Co., NC
13 Sep 2009

Whirlabout (Polites vibex)
Suggs Mill Pond, Bladen Co., NC
2 Oct 2016


Whirlabout (Polites vibex) Croatan NF, Craven Co., NC 12 Aug 2016	Whirlabout (Polites vibex) Croatan NF, Craven Co., NC 25 Aug 2018


Whirlabout (Polites vibex) New Hanover Co., NC 16 Oct 2011

Florida Whirlabouts:


Whirlabout (Polites vibex) Big Cypress, Collier Co., FL 23 Sep 2016


Whirlabout (Polites vibex) Big Cypress, Collier Co., FL 25 Sep 2016	Whirlabout (Polites vibex) Big Cypress, Collier Co., FL 25 Sep 2016

Whirlabout (Polites vibex)
Big Cypress, Collier Co., FL
25 Sep 2016

Per Zhang et al. (2022) and the Pelham Catalogue (2023), Whirlabouts from south Texas southward are now recognized as a separate species:


Southern Whirlabout (Polites praeceps) National Butterfly Center, Hidalgo Co., TX 1 May 2018	Southern Whirlabout (Polites praeceps) National Butterfly Center, Hidalgo Co., TX 1 May 2018

Southern Whirlabout (Polites praeceps)
National Butterfly Center, Hidalgo Co., TX
1 May 2018


Southern Whirlabout (Polites praeceps) National Butterfly Center, Hidalgo Co., TX 1 May 2018	Southern Whirlabout (Polites praeceps) Mission, Hidalgo Co., TX 13 Oct 2004

Whirlabout (Polites vibex)
National Butterfly Center, Hidalgo Co., TX
1 May 2018

According to the Swift Guide to North American Butterflies, although this individual strongly resembles a Sachem, the black spot on the vein near the base of the ventral hindwing indicates this is a Whirlabout.

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Created on ... April 25, 2004 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com