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Polites vibex

(Whirlabout)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Whirlabout

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

Color:

Males and females are very different. Male Upperside is yellow-orange; forewing has a black stigma and neighboring black square patch ; black margins of hindwing are smooth inwardly. Underside is yellow-orange; hindwing has a few large blurred black spots . Female: Upperside is dark brown; forewing has a few clear spots. Underside is gray or sooty yellow with a central pale patch outlined with dark scales .

Size/Age/Growth

Wing span : 1 - 1 1/2 inches (2.5 - 3.9 cm).

Habitat

Scrubby or open habitats including dunes, fields , pinewoods , roadsides, forest openings, yards , gardens and parks.

Even more so than the Fiery Skipper, the Whirlabout favors hot, barren places. Sunny, sandy roadsides, barren fields, openings in longleaf pine/scrub oak sandhills , dunes, and other somewhat "sterile-looking" places are favored by this skipper. It does visit gardens, but it is greatly outnumbered there by the Fiery Skipper. (ref. 104741)

Biology

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Diet

Caterpillar hosts: Grasses including Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), St . Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum), and thin paspalum (Paspalum setaceum). Adult food: Nectar from flowers including shepherd's needle and lantana.

Various grasses, including Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), are the foodplants. The species nectars on many flowers, especially those blooming close to the ground , within a few inches. (ref. 104741)

Reproduction

Adult flight is quick and darting. Females are usually found in forest openings or edges ; males perch to await females during the afternoon. Caterpillars live in a tube of silked-together leaves and feed mostly at night.

Behavior

Flight: Two broods from April-September in the north; all year in Florida and South Texas.

Flight period: Seemingly three broods between late April and early November. Dips in the flight charts around mid-June and mid-August seem to indicate the breaks between broods. The highest numbers occur from late July to early October. (ref. 104741)

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Polites

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 26 species and subspecies in this genus:

P. baracoa (Baracoa Skipper) · P. carus (Carus Skipper) · P. coras (Peck's Skipper) · P. draco (Draco Skipper) · P. mardon (Mardon Skipper) · P. mardon klamathensis (Mardon Skipper) · P. mardon mardon (Mardon Skipper) · P. mystic (Long Dash) · P. mystic mystic (Long Dash) · P. origenes (Crossline Skipper) · P. origenes rhena (Rhena Skipper) · P. peckius (Peck's Skipper) · P. rhesus (Rhesus Skipper) · P. sabuleti (Sandhill Skipper) · P. sabuleti albamontana (White Mountain Skipper) · P. sabuleti channelensis (Sandhill Skipper) · P. sabuleti ministigma (Sandhill Skipper) · P. sabuleti nigrescens (Dark Sandhill Skipper) · P. sabuleti sinemaculata (Bleached Sandhill Skipper) · P. sabuleti tecumseh (Tecumseh Skipper) · P. sonora (Sonora Skipper) · P. sonora flavaventris (Sonora Skipper) · P. sonora longinqua (Sonora Skipper) · P. sonora siris (Dog Star Skipper) · P. themistocles (Tawny-Edged Skipper) · P. vibex (Whirlabout)

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]
Last Revised: 7/16/2012