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Common Checkered Skipper
Pyrgus communis
33.5299, -82.0054
Field Notes
Description:
Upperside of male is blue-gray; female is black. Both sexes have large white spots which form median bands across both wings. Fringes of male checkered but black checks often reach only halfway to edge of fringe. Male has a costal fold enclosing scent scales on the upperside of the forewing. Underside is dull white with dark gray or olive bands. Spots of the hindwing marginal row are very small; spots of the submarginal row are larger. This species is separated from the white checkered skipper with confidence only by dissection and examination of the male genitalia.
Wing Span: 1 - 1 1/2 inches (2.5 - 3.8 cm).
Habitat:
Open, sunny places with low vegetation and some bare soil including prairies, meadows, fields, roadsides, landfills, yards, gardens, pastures, openings and trails in woods. This one was photographed at the Savannah River Bluffs Heritage Area in North Augusta (Aiken County), SC.
Notes:
Range is most of the temperate United States south to Gulf coast, w. Texas, se. Arizona, southern California, and mountains of northern Mexico. Colonizes as far north as central Alberta, southern Ontario, and southern New England. It cannot survive very cold winters and may not be a permanent resident north of the 40th parallel.
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