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Pyrgus ruralis

(Two-Banded Checkered-Skipper)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Two-Banded Checkered-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 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 .[2]

Physical Description

Species Pyrgus ruralis

Upperside is light-to-blackish brown; forewing has squarish white spots; hindwing usually has 2 rows of white spots. Underside is brown or gray with dull spots that are often obscure . Male has a costal fold enclosing scent scales on the forewing. (ref. 104970)

Color:

Upperside is light-to-blackish brown; forewing has squarish white spots; hindwing usually has 2 rows of white spots. Underside is brown or gray with dull spots that are often obscure . Male has a costal fold enclosing scent scales on the forewing.

Size/Age/Growth

Wing span : 1 - 1 1/8 inches (2.5 - 2.9 cm).

Habitat

Forest clearings, meadows, pastures, streamsides; from sea level to 10,000 feet.

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,125 meters (0 to 6,972 feet).[3]

Biology

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Diet

Caterpillar hosts: Herbaceous plants in the rose family (Rosaceae) including Drummond's potentilla (Potentilla drummondii), dusky horkelia (Horkelia fusca), Santa Rosa horkelia (H. tenuiloba), Cleveland's horkelia (H. bolanderi clevelandii), and probably others. Adult food: Flower nectar.

Reproduction

To find receptive females, males patrol and sometimes perch close to the ground in valley bottoms or swales . Females lay eggs singly on the host plant. Caterpillars make a webbed leaf nest in which they live and feed .

Behavior

Flight: One brood from April-July.

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Pyrgus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 27 species and subspecies in this genus:

P. albescens (White Checkered) · P. alveus (Large Grizzled Skipper) · P. alveus alveus (Large Grizzled Skipper) · P. andromedae (Alpine Grizzled Skipper) · P. armoricanus (Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper) · P. bellieri (Foulquiers Grizzled Skipper) · P. cacaliae (Dusky Grizzled Skipper) · P. carlinae (Carline Skipper) · P. carthami (Safflower Skipper) · P. centaureae (Grizzled Skipper) · P. centaureae freija (Freija's Grizzled Skipper) · P. cirsii (Cinquefoil Skipper) · P. communis (Common Checkered) · P. malvae (Grizzled Skipper) · P. malvae malvae (Grizzled Skipper) · P. malvoides (Southern Grizzled Skipper) · P. oileus (Tropical Checkered) · P. philetas (Desert Checkered-Skipper) · P. ruralis (Two-Banded Checkered-Skipper) · P. ruralis lagunae (Laguna Mountains Skipper) · P. scriptura (Small Checkered-Skipper) · P. serratulae (Olive Skipper) · P. sidae (Yellow-Banded Skipper) · P. sidae sidae (Yellow-Banded Skipper) · P. warrenensis (Warren's Skipper) · P. wyandot (Appalachian Checkered-Skipper) · P. xanthus (Mountain Checkered)

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=Thessia&search=Search [back]
  3. Mean = 1,237.180 meters (4,058.990 feet), Standard Deviation = 676.020 based on 88 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/16/2012