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Pyrgus cirsii

(Cinquefoil Skipper)

Overview

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Vulnerable

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Cinquefoil 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]

Habitat

Ecology: This grizzled skipper occurs in warm, flower-rich grasslands, preferring those in sheltered situations, for example on slopes or near shrubs or woodland. In the northern part of its range , it is only found in very warm places. The female lays its eggs singly on the underside of the leaves of various cinquefoils (Potentilla spp. ), choosing the smaller plants . This butterfly hibernates as a very tiny caterpillar in the egg, in which it remains until the spring . It then emerges and spins a small shelter from leaves. In the last larval instar, this is replaced by a parchment-like shelter. It pupates in a cocoon . It has one generation a year. Habitats : dry calcareous grasslands and steppes (20%), dry siliceous grasslands (20%), alpine and subalpine grasslands (20%), mesophile grasslands (20%), inland sand-dunes (10%), fallow land , waste places (10%). [3].

List of Habitats:

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. van Swaay, C., Wynhoff, I., Verovnik, R., Wiemers, M., López Munguira, M., Maes, D., Sasic, M., Verstrael, T., Warren, M. & Settele, J. 2010. Pyrgus cirsii. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/21/2012