Family:Hesperiidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Name: Mountain Cloudywing.
Note: Some authors refer to this species with a new but similar
name, T. mexicanus.
Range:
This species occurs only at high elevations in Oregon south through California,
and southeastern Idaho south to Mexico.
Habitat:
It can be found in alpine and subalpine meadows and clearings.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on legume species including clover (Trifolium
spp.), vetch (Vicia spp.), and wild pea (Lathyrus spp.).
Adult: Butterflies drink flower nectar.
Ecology:
There is one generation of caterpillars each year. The overwintering
stage has not been reported. Adults generally fly from the end of April through August.
Reproduction:
Males perch on
hilltops all day to wait for receptive females. Eggs are laid singly under the
leaves of 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.
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.