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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Butterflies and Skippers (Papilionoidea) » Skippers (Hesperiidae) » Grass Skippers (Hesperiinae) » Ruby-eyes (Perichares) » Green-backed Ruby-eye - Hodges#4000 (Perichares adela)

Species Perichares adela - Green-backed Ruby-eye - Hodges#4000

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References

Green-backed Ruby-eye - Perichares adela

Green-backed Ruby-eye sleeping on a wall - Perichares adela

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

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 Hesperiinae (Grass Skippers)

Genus Perichares (Ruby-eyes)

Species adela (Green-backed Ruby-eye - Hodges#4000)

Hodges Number

4000

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Perichares adela Hewitson, 1867

Hesperia adela Hewitson, 1867

Perichares philetes adela Brown & Mielke, 1967 (authorship may be incorrect, listed but not as a new comb.)

Explanation of Names

Perichares adela (Hewitson, 1867), formerly a subspecies of Perichares philetes (Gmelin, [1790]), extralimital, is raised to full species status in Burns et al. (2008).

Identification

Very large for a grass-skipper. Mottled pattern under hindwing. Large yellow spots on forewing. Red eyes show clearly only if lit from right angle. Dorsal surface of thorax sometimes, but not always, iridescent green.

Range

s. TX (as a stray) to Brazil - Map (MPG, BOA)

Habitat

fields and forest edges

Food

caterpillars hosted on grasses including sugarcane and bamboo

Life Cycle

Seems to be crepuscular; nearly all sightings are in morning or evening. Often nectaring high up in Mexican Olive (Cordia boissieri) and other flowering trees.

Remarks

First U.S. record reported by Freeman (1945).

Print References

Burns, J.M., D.H. Janzen, M. Hajibabaei, W. Hallwachs, P.D.N. Hebert,, 2008. DNA barcodes and cryptic species of skipper butterflies in the genus Perichares in Area de Conservaciòn Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105 (17): 6350-6355.

Freeman, H.A. 1945. Notes on some North American Hesperiidae, with two new records for the United States (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Entomological News 56(1): 4-5.

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group - MPG

Butterflies of America - BOA

NABA-South Texas - NABA

Contributed by Joshua Stuart Rose on 14 June, 2009 - 12:26am
Additional contributions by Steve Nanz, Mike Quinn
Last updated 30 December, 2017 - 3:50pm

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