Species Polites sabuleti - Sandhill Skipper - Hodges#4037

4037

Wingspan of 2.2 - 3.2 cm.

Common and quite variable. Upperside of male is yellow-orange with dark toothed borders and a sinuous stigma on the forewing. Upperside of female has heavier dark markings and almost transparent light spots; no stigma. Underside of the hindwing in both sexes is yellow-tan with yellow veins, dark chevrons between the veins at the outer margin, and dark spots at the vein ends.

Southern British Columbia and eastern Washington south through California and northern Arizona to Baja California; east to southeastern Wyoming, central Colorado, and northeastern New Mexico.

Alkali grasslands, moist meadows, lawns, salt marshes, sand dunes, sagebrush flats, and alpine fell-fields.

Caterpillar hosts: Various grasses including Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), bluegrass (Poa pratensis), desert salt grass (Distichlis spicata var. stricta), sand lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes), rough bentgrass (Agrostis scabra), Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), and alpine fescue (Festuca brachyphylla).

Adult food: Flower nectar.

To watch for females, males perch all day in low grassy areas. Females deposit eggs singly on the host or on nearby plants. Caterpillars feed on leaves and take shelter in nests of tied leaves. Chrysalids hibernate.

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center