Palmetto Skipper (Euphyes arpa [Boisduval & LeConte])
Wing span: 1 5/8 - 1 15/16 inches (4.1 - 4.9 cm).
Identification: Head and front of thorax are bright orange. Male: Upperside of forewing is reddish-yellow with black borders and a 2-part black stigma; hindwing is black. Female: Upperside is mostly black with a few reddish-yellow patches. Both sexes: Underside of hindwing is bright yellow-orange with no markings.
Life history: To await females, males perch all day in sedge marshes. Caterpillars eat palmetto fronds and live in silken tubes at the frond base. Partially-grown caterpillars hibernate.
Flight: Probably three broods from March-November.
Caterpillar hosts: Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens).
Adult food: Nectar from flowers including pickerelweed.
Habitat: Lowland palmetto scrub.
Range: Peninsular Florida, southeastern Georgia, coasts of southern Alabama and southern Mississippi.
Conservation: Populations should be conserved wherever found.
The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G3 - Very rare or local throughout its range or found locally in a restricted range (21 to 100 occurrences). (Threatened throughout its range).
Management needs: None reported.
References:
Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the Great Plains. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates. Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern butterflies. Peterson field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston. 396 pages, 48 color plates. Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.
Author: Jane M. Struttmann
State and Regional References:
Layberry, R.A., Hall, P.W. & Lafontaine, D.J., 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON. 280 pp. Mather, B. and Mather, K. 1958. The Butterflies of Mississippi. Tulane Studies in Zoology 6:63-109. Opler, P.A. 1998. A field guide to eastern butterflies, revised format. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.