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Poanes hobomok

(Hobomok Skipper)

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Hobomok 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 hobomok

Wings are rounded . Upperside of male is yellow-orange with irregular black borders and no stigma; underside of hindwing has purple-gray on the inner margin . Female has 2 forms: Upperside of normal form is duller and has less orange than the male; underside of hindwing is orange with purple-gray at the inner margin. Upperside of "pocahontas" form is purple-black with some dull white spots on the forewing ; underside is purple-black with the pattern obscured. (ref. 105083)

Size/Age/Growth

Wing span : 1 - 1 11/16 inches (2.5 - 4.3 cm). (ref. 105083)

Habitat

This species favors woodland edges and wide openings in woods (such as margins of logging roads), both where somewhat damp or in uplands . It can be found in old fields and other brushy areas, but it usually remains fairly close to woods. Some references indicate that it is usually found in damp places, but in NC it has a wide range of moisture tolerance, from bog edges to the margins of sunlit logging roads on the upper slopes of mountains. (ref. 104733)

Openings and edges of damp woods, edges of bogs, light gaps along streams , city parks. (ref. 105083)

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 690 meters (0 to 2,264 feet).[3]

Biology

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Diet

Panic grasses (Panicum spp. ) and blue grasses (Poa spp.) are among the many foodplants; all are grasses. The species nectars on many flowers, but males are often seen perched on leaves along wooded edges , where they are quite territorial . (ref. 104733)

Caterpillar hosts: Various grasses including panic grasses (Panicum) and bluegrasses (Poa). (ref. 105083)

Adult food: Nectar from flowers including common milkweed, henbit, viper's bugloss, and blackberry. (ref. 105083)

Behavior

Flight period: A single brood; in the Piedmont it flies from the end of April at least to late May. However, in the mountains the flight occurs from early May to mid-July. (ref. 104733)

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Provisionally Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Beccaloni G..

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Poanes

There are approximately 41 species in this genus:

P. aaroni (Aaron's Skipper) · P. aaroni aaroni (Aaron's Skipper) · P. aaroni howardi (Howard's Skipper) · P. alfaratta · P. azin · P. baiva · P. benito · P. erratica · P. friedlei · P. hermocki · P. hobomok (Hobomok Skipper) · P. hobomok f. pocahontas · P. hobomok hobomok (Hobomok Skipper) · P. hobomok wetona (Hobomok Skipper) · P. howardi · P. hughi · P. inimica · P. lupulina · P. massasoit (Mulberry Wing) · P. massasoit chermocki (Chermock's Mulberry Wing) · P. massasoit hughi · P. massasoit massasoit · P. melane (Umber Skipper) · P. ogeechensis · P. pallida · P. piso · P. pocahontas · P. psaumis · P. quadaquina · P. richteri · P. ridingsii · P. rolla · P. suffusa · 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) · P. zachaeus · P. zizaniae

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 26, 2008:

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]
  3. Mean = 196.340 meters (644.160 feet), Standard Deviation = 115.970 based on 754 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 2009-05-13