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Agathymus neumoegeni florenceae

(Florence's Agave Borer)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Florence's Agave Borer

Description

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Family Hesperiidae

'The Hesperiidae are members of the Superfamily Hesperioidea. Worldwide in distribution, skippers are richest in the tropics. More than 3,500 species are described, with approximately 275 in North America, many of which are found only in Arizona and Texas. Most skippers are small to medium, usually orange, brown, black, white, or gray. A few have iridescent colors. Skippers have large eyes, short antennae (often with hooked clubs), stout bodies, and three pairs of walking legs . Their flight is often rapid, making wing movement appear blurred. Adults of most species have long probicscises and feed on floral nectar, but some also take up nutrients from bird droppings. Males have scent scales found in modified forewing patches. Males of most species locate mates by perching (grass and giant-skippers), though some patrol, especially in the open-winged skippers. Globular eggs are laid singly.

'[1]

Subfamily Megathyminae

Giant-skippers are members of the Family Hesperiidae. These large robust insects comprise four genera and are limited to the United States and Mexico. Most species occur in the Southwest and adjacent desert portions of Mexico. Antennae are not hooked , and some species have a short apiculus . Males have long hairlike scales on the upper surface of the hindwings . Adult giant-skippers rarely feed , though males visit wet sand to imbibe moisture. Eggs are glued to host leaves (Megathymus and Stallingsia) or dropped into host plant clumps (Agathymus). Caterpillars burrow into host leaves and stems and feed within silk-lined tunnels. Pupae are formed in the larval tunnels and can move up and down . [2]

Taxonomy

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Similar Species

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Members of the genus Agathymus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 21 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. alliae (Mojave Giant-Skipper) · A. aryxna (Arizona Giant-Skipper) · A. baueri (Bauer's Giant-Skipper) · A. baueri freemani (Freeman's Agave Borer) · A. evansi (Huachuca Giant-Skipper) · A. gentryi (Gentry's Giant-Skipper) · A. mariae (Mary's Giant-Skipper) · A. mariae chinatiensis (Chinati Mountains Agave Borer) · A. mariae lajitaensis (Lajitas Agave Borer) · A. mariae rindgei (Rindge's Agave Borer) · A. neumoegeni (Orange Giant-Skipper) · A. neumoegeni carlsbadensis (Carlsbad Agave Borer) · A. neumoegeni chisosensis (Tawny Giant Skipper) · A. neumoegeni diabloensis (Diablo Mountains Agave Borer) · A. neumoegeni florenceae (Florence's Agave Borer) · A. neumoegeni judithae (Judith's Agave Borer) · A. neumoegeni mcalpinei (Mcalpine's Agave Borer) · A. polingi (Poling's Giant-Skipper) · A. remingtoni (Coahuila Giant-Skipper) · A. remingtoni valverdiensis (Coahuila Giant Skipper) · A. stephensi (California Giant-Skipper)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=19&sci=Hesperiidae&com=Skippers [back]
  2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Stallingsia&search=Search [back]
Last Revised: 7/16/2012