Family:Hesperiidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Name: Pirus Skipperling.
Range:
This species exhibits a small range in the intermountain west and southwestern
U.S., extending from southeastern Idaho and southern Wyoming, through Utah and Colorado, to
parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
Habitat:
It occurs in moist valleys and gulches, open oak woodlands,
and in riparian areas.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Though records are sparse, caterpillars are believed to feed on the leaves
of grasses (Poa spp.).
Adult: Butterflies drink flower nectar, often from dogbane (Apocynum spp.) and alfalfa (Medicago spp.).
Ecology:
There is one generation of caterpillars each summer. Caterpillars
construct nests
from leaves tied with silk.
Mature caterpillars overwinter in a physiological state called diapause. Adults generally fly from the end of
May through the first of August. Butterflies bask in the sun with their forewings
partially open and their hindwings fully open.
Reproduction:
Males actively patrol
in search of receptive females. The site chosen by females for oviposition has not been reported.
Conservation:
Idaho Status: | Unprotected nongame species. |
Global Rank: | G5
populations levels are secure, but may be of concern in the future. |
Opler, P. A., H. Pavulaan, and R. E. Stanford. 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, North Dakota, USA: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm (Version 05Nov98).
Opler, P. A. and A. B.Wright. 1999. A Field Guide to the Western Butterflies. Second Edition. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, New York, USA, 540 pp.
Pyle, R. M. 1981. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, New York, USA, 924 pp.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 583 pp.
Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western U.S.A. Butterflies (Including Adjacent Parts of Canada and Mexico). Published by authors, Denver, Colorado, USA, 275 pp.