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Species Burnsius communis - Common Checkered-Skipper - Hodges#3966
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 communis (Common Checkered-Skipper - Hodges#3966)
Other Common Names Cuadrícula Común Synonyms and other taxonomic changes Burnsius communis ( Grote, 1872); synonyms:
Pyrgus communis
Identification Adult: usually darker than White Checkered-Skipper, and male often has partial black checks in wing fringes (rather than complete, as in P. albescens) - 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 or olive bands. Spots of hindwing marginal row very small; spots of submarginal row larger. Range Much of North America, south of northern forests; mostly absent from southern California and southern Nevada and much of the immediate Gulf Coast, according to the map in Burns (2000).
According to a comment by Randy Emmitt here, the White Checkered-Skipper may be replacing the Common Checkered-Skipper in the southeastern states - also see Calhoun (2002). Season Adults fly June-October in north (two broods), and all year in subtropical areas. Food Larvae feed on mallows (Malvaceae), including Althea, Abutilon, Malva.
Adults take nectar. Remarks Discussion of taxonomy changes to Pyrgini on BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2192845See Also Where the ranges overlap (i.e., central California, southern Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and the southeastern states), White 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).
Tropical Checkered-Skipper, which has a more southern distribution (Florida, Gulf Coast, and southern Arizona only), has prominent cell-end and subapical spots on the forewing, and its forewing fringe is typically "smudged" below the apex (as opposed to evenly checked). Print References Glassberg, p. 161, plate 53 (2)
Scott, #665, pp. 495-496 (3)
Allen, p. 206, plates 26, 41, 49 (4)Internet References Butterflies and Moths of North America: Adult images and species account, including US distribution map |
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