Family:Hesperiidae
Family
Description:
Alternate
Common Names:Large White Skipper, Great Basin White Skipper.
Range:
This species occurs in patches of the western U.S., including eastern Washington,
parts of Idaho, and Nevada and Utah,
extending into parts of Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico; also through much
of California.
Habitat:
It occurs in open areas including woodlands, chaparral, deserts, and rocky areas
along waterways.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves of members of the mallow family (Malvaceae),
such as hollyhock (Althaea spp.) and globemallow (Sphaeralcea
spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies feed on flower nectar.
Ecology:
Caterpillars live in shelters made of leaves rolled or tied with silk. There are multiple generations of caterpillars every year. The stage that overwinters has not been reported by scientists. Adults fly from April through October.
Reproduction:
Males actively patrol
in search of receptive females, often in canyon bottoms. Females lay yellow
eggs singly on new leaves of host plants
.
The eggs turn white before hatching.
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.
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.