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Fiery Skipper butterfly
Hylephila phyleus
40.6999, -73.3511
Field Notes
Description:
Antennae are very short. Male wide black stigma. Underside of the hindwing is scattered with small black spots. Female: Upperside is dark brown with a very irregular orange band. Underside of hindwing is pale brown with paler checks. Eggs are laid singly under leaves and also on other plants and objects. Caterpillars eat leaves and roll and tie them to make shelters which lie horizontally in the sod. Several broods from May-August in the north, all year in Florida and South Texas.
Habitat:
Sunny, open areas such as fields, lawns, gardens, levees, roadsides, and second-growth scrub.
Notes:
Caterpillar hosts: Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), crabgrass (Digitaria), St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum), and other grasses. Adult food: Nectar from flowers of a variety of plants including sweet pepperbush, swamp milkweed, asters, sneezeweed, knapweed, ironweed, and thistles.
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