Family:Hesperiidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Name: Giant Reed Skipper.
Range:
This species ranges from central California east through Nevada, southern Utah,
Colorado, and Arizona. Also, isolated populations occur in Washington, New Mexico,
and Idaho (Twin Falls County).
Habitat:
It can be found in wet spots where the host plant, the common
reed, occurs, including marshes, canals, seeps, and desert oases.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves of the common reed (Phragmites australis).
Adult: Butterflies drink flower nectar.
Ecology:
There are one to two generations of caterpillars each summer.
Caterpillars form nests
from reed leaves rolled and tied with silk.
The overwintering stage has not been reported. Adults generally fly from June through September. Butterflies
live in localized, isolated colonies.
Reproduction:
Males perch
in low spots to wait for receptive females. Greenish white eggs are laid on
or near the host plant.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | G5
populations are widespread, abundant, and secure. |
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.