Family:Hesperiidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Name: Montane Skipper.
Range:
This species ranges from southern British Columbia east to Saskatchewan, from
the eastern Pacific Northwest east to central Montana and Wyoming; and in western
Colorado and patches of California and the southwest. It occurs in portions
of central and southern Idaho.
Habitat:
Typically found at higher elevations, it occurs in open areas
such as sagebrush steppe,
meadows, grasslands, and open woodlands.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on grasses including western needlegrass (Stipa occidentalis)
and fescue (Festuca spp.).
Adult: Butterflies drink flower nectar.
Ecology:
Caterpillars live in tubes made of silk at the bases of host
plants. There is only one generation of caterpillars each summer. They overwinter
in partially buried shelters, in a physiological state called diapause. Adults generally fly from late May to
early August.
Reproduction:
Males perch
to wait for receptive females. Females lay white eggs singly on or near host
plants.
Conservation:
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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.
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.