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Species Burnsius albescens - White Checkered-Skipper - Hodges#3967

white checkered skipper? - Burnsius albescens White Checkered Skipper - Burnsius albescens Which Skipper? - Burnsius albescens White Checkered-Skipper - Burnsius albescens White Checkered-Skipper - Burnsius albescens - male - female White Checkered-Skipper - Burnsius albescens - male White Checkered Skipper - Burnsius albescens Pyrgus albescens? - Burnsius albescens
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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies and Skippers)
Family Hesperiidae (Skippers)
Subfamily Pyrginae (Spread-wing Skippers)
Tribe Pyrgini
Genus Burnsius (New World Checkered-Skippers)
Species albescens (White Checkered-Skipper - Hodges#3967)
Hodges Number
3967
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Burnsius albescens (Plötz, 1884); synonyms:
Pyrgus albescens
Identification
Adult: usually paler than Common Checkered-Skipper, and male often has complete black checks in wing fringes (rather than partial, as in P. communis) - but read See Also section below. Upperside of male bluish-gray; female black. Both sexes have large white spots which form median bands across both wings. Male has costal fold enclosing scent scales on upperside of forewing. Underside of both wings dull white with dark gray bands.
Range
Southern California and Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, southern Texas, and along the Gulf Coast (see Burns (2000)); apparently spreading in the east (see Calhoun (2002) and comment by Randy Emmitt here). There are confirmed records in western Tennessee.
Occasionally strays to southwestern Utah and central Texas.
Season
All year in southern Texas; most of year elsewhere
Food
Larvae are believed to feed on plants in the mallow family, including globe mallows (Sphaeralcea), velvet-leaf (Abutilon), and poppy mallow (Callirhoe).
Remarks
Discussion of taxonomy changes to Pyrgini on BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2192845
See Also
Where the ranges overlap (i.e., central California, southern Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and the southeastern states), Common Checkered-Skipper female is indistinguishable, and male is positively identifiable only with the specimen in hand (by extending the penis and verifying the species under a lens).
Internet References
Butterflies and Moths of North America: Adult images and species account, including distribution map