Common Names
Common Names in English:
Golden Banded-Skipper
Description
Subfamily Pyrginae
Pyrgines are primarily tropical American species of the Family Hesperiidae. There are approximately 80 North American species. Most genera are tropical, but the duskywings and checkered-skippers are mainly temperate and also occur in Eurasia . Adults of many species land with their wings open, although some perch with their wings closed or half open. They imbibe nectar from flowers, and males of many species take in moisture from moist sand or mud . Some adults also feed on bird droppings. Many tropical species rest underneath leaves when inactive . Females lay eggs singly. Most species lay eggs directly on host-plant leaves, while others lay on nearby plants or objects. Almost all species use broad-leafed plants as their caterpillar hosts, and caterpillars live in rolled-leaf or webbed-leaf shelters .
Physical Description
Color:
Wings are dark brown-black. Forewing has a wide yellow band , and a small white patch near the apex . Underside is dark brown with 2-3 darker bands; hindwing margin may have gray overscales.
Size/Age/Growth
Wing span : 1 3/8 - 2 inches (3.5 - 5.1 cm).
Habitat
Damp, wooded ravines with permanent water sources.
Biology
Diet
Caterpillar hosts: New Mexico locust (Robinia neomexicana) and hog peanut (Amphicarpa bracteata). Adult food: Nectar from flowers including trailing arbutus, blackberry, abelia, and hollyhock.
Reproduction
Adults are active in the late afternoon. To seek females, males perch in gullies on rocks or up to 6 feet above ground on vegetation. Females lay eggs in strings of 2-7 at the base of host plant leaflets . Caterpillars live in shelters of rolled or tied leaves and emerge at night to feed on leaves. Chrysalids hibernate.
Behavior
Flight: Two broods; from May-August in the north, April-September in the south. One brood from June-September in southern Arizona.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
)
- animals
- Phylum:
Arthropoda
()
- arthropods
- Class:
Insecta
()
- Insects
- Order:
Lepidoptera
()
- Butterflies, Moths
- Family:
Hesperioidea
()
- Family:
Hesperioidea
(
- Order:
Lepidoptera
(
- Class:
Insecta
(
- Phylum:
Arthropoda
(
Unambiguous Synonyms
- Autochton cellus (Boisduval and Leconte 1834)
Notes
Name Status: Provisionally Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Beccaloni G.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Autochton
There are approximately 298 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:
A. aerofuscus · A. agathokles · A. ammon · A. assaracus · A. aunus · A. bipunctatus · A. bocus · A. brontes · A. capys · A. cellus (Golden Banded-Skipper) · A. cincta (Chisos Banded-Skipper) · A. cinctus (Chisos Banded-Skipper) · A. dhega · A. electrus · A. festus · A. integrifascia · A. isokrates · A. itylus · A. jao · A. leilae · A. longipennis (Sharp Banded-Skipper) · A. lunulus · A. mexicana · A. neis (Broad Banded-Skipper) · A. orontes · A. pseudocellus (Sonoran Banded-Skipper) · A. punctisignatus · A. reflexus · A. rotundatus · A. sulfureolus · A. vectilucis · A. zarex · A. zonilis · Falco aesalon · Falco albicans · Falco albigularis · Falco alfred-edmundi · Falco alopex (Fox Kestrel) · Falco amurensis (Amur Falcon) · Falco apoxypterus · Falco araeus (Seychelles Kestrel) · Falco ardosiaceus (Grey Kestrel) · Falco atriceps · Falco augur · Falco aurantius · Falco axillaris · Falco babylonicus · Falco barbarus · Falco barbarus arabicus · Falco berigora (Brown Falcon) · Falco berigora berigora · Falco berigora novaeguineae · Falco berigora occidentalis · Falco berigora tasmanica · Falco biarmicus (Lanner Falcon) · Falco biarmicus abyssinicus · Falco biarmicus biarmicus · Falco biarmicus erlangeri · Falco biarmicus feldeggi · Falco biarmicus feldeggii · Falco biarmicus tanypterus · Falco bido · Falco caligatus · Falco candicans · Falco cassini · Falco caucasicus · Falco cenchroides (Australian Falcon) · Falco cenchroides cenchroides · Falco cherrug (Saker Falcon) · Falco cherrug altaicus · Falco cherrug cherrug · Falco cherrug coatsi · Falco cherrug cyanopus · Falco cherrug hendersoni · Falco cherrug milvipes · Falco cherrug; · Falco cherug · Falco cherug cherug · Falco chicquera (Red-Necked Falcon) · Falco chicquera chicquera · Falco chicquera horsbrughi · Falco chicquera ruficollis · Falco chiquera · Falco christiani-ludovici · Falco cineraceus · Falco columbarius (Merlin) · Falco columbarius aesalon (Merlin) · Falco columbarius aesolon · Falco columbarius bendirei (Merlin) · Falco columbarius columbarius (Merlin) · Falco columbarius columbrius · Falco columbarius insignis · Falco columbarius lymani · Falco columbarius pacificus · Falco columbarius pallidus · Falco columbarius richardsoni (Merlin) · Falco columbarius richardsonii (Merlin) · Falco columbarius ssp · Falco columbarius subaesalon (Merlin) · Falco columbarius suckleyi (Black Merlin)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 31, 2006.
- LepIndex: The Global Lepidoptera Names Index
- MBLWHOI Library: Universal Biological Index and Organizer. uBio.org accessed July 17, 2008.
- NatureServe. 2003. Downloadable animal data sets. NatureServe Central Databases. Accessed February 6, 2005.
- Opler, Paul A., Harry Pavulaan, Ray E. Stanford, Michael Pogue, coordinators. Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: Mountain Prairie Information Node. March 26, 2007.
- The Global Lepidoptera Names Index2, 12.2, 2005.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2602374
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Lep-181247.0
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 1368332
- Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: IILEP14010
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 16527
