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Poanes yehl

(Yehl Skipper)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Yehl Skipper

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 Hesperiinae

The grass skippers are members of the Family Hesperiidae. Distributed worldwide, they comprise more than 2,000 species, most of which are found in the American tropics. The small to medium-sized adults usually have abruptly angled antennae with an apiculus at the tip . Adults of many temperate species are predominantly orange, while brown is the most common color of the tropical species. Male forewings usually have a brand or stigma with specialized scales . Most species have long proboscises and are avid flower-visitors. Adults flight is rapid, and perching posture is unique: the hindwings are opened at a wider angle than the forewings. Males of most species perch while looking for mates. Caterpillars feed on monocotyledons (grasses and allied plants ) and live in silken leaf nests that sometimes extend underground. Grass skippers typically overwinter as caterpillars within their shelters .[2]

Physical Description

Species Poanes yehl

Upperside is bright orange with wide dark borders ; male forewing has a distinct linear stigma. Underside of hindwing is dark brown (female) or orange (males); both with 3-5 pale median spots. (ref. 105089)

Color:

Upperside is bright orange with wide dark borders ; male forewing has a distinct linear stigma. Underside of hindwing is dark brown (female) or orange (males); both with 3-5 pale median spots.

Size/Age/Growth

Wing span : 1 5/16 - 1 3/4 inches (3.4 - 4.5 cm).

Habitat

Clearings in wet or swampy woodlands.

This is supposedly a wetland species, though it is often found several hundred yards from wet places. It is typically found along edges of swamps or other wet woods , along trails or dirt roads through such woods, ditches, savannas , and edges of marshes. It is not a marsh species, and it favors partly shaded places. However, many adults nectar on flowers hundreds of yards from wetlands, such as in dry longleaf pinewoods . If the foodplant is cane or some other wetland species, the adults certainly wander well away from such areas. (ref. 104735)

Biology

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Diet

Caterpillar hosts: Probably cane (Arundinaria species). Adult food: Nectar from flowers including sweet pepperbush, chinquapin, pickerelweed, and swamp milkweed.

Cane (Arundinaria) is supposedly the (sole?) foodplant, but it does not seem to be the foodplant in NC. Rather, some other grasses are likely. There is no affinity between Yehl Skippers and cane stands in NC, especially in the fall . It nectars on many plants of wetlands, such as pickerelweed and swamp milkweed. The second brood, and perhaps the first also, often nectars on blazing-star (Liatris) and other upland composites . (ref. 104735)

Reproduction

To await females, males perch about 3 feet above the ground on sunlit vegetation.

Behavior

Flight: Two broods from late May to mid-June and from mid-August to mid-November.

Flight period: Two broods, at least in the Coastal Plain ; the first brood is from mid-May to mid-July, but June is the primary month. The second brood, clearly larger than the first, is generally from early September (rarely in August) to mid-October. The small Piedmont population has essentially just one brood (in fall ), or records may represent mostly strays from the adjacent Coastal Plain; however, a few records from mid-June to early July hint at a tiny first brood. (ref. 104735)

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Poanes

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 15 species and subspecies in this genus:

P. aaroni (Aaron's Skipper) · P. aaroni aaroni (Aaron's Skipper) · P. aaroni howardi (Howard's Skipper) · P. hobomok (Hobomok Skipper) · P. hobomok hobomok (Hobomok Skipper) · P. hobomok wetona (Hobomok Skipper) · P. massasoit (Mulberry Wing) · P. massasoit chermocki (Chermock's Mulberry Wing) · P. melane (Umber Skipper) · P. taxiles (Taxiles Skipper) · P. viator (Broad-Winged Skipper) · P. viator viator (Broad-Winged Skipper) · P. viator zizaniae (Broad-Winged Skipper) · P. yehl (Yehl Skipper) · P. zabulon (Zabulon Golden 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=Stinga&search=Search [back]
Last Revised: 7/16/2012