North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Mississippi

Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola)
JPG -- species photo

Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola [W. H. Edwards])

Wing span: 1 3/8 - 1 11/16 inches (3.5 - 4.3 cm).

Identification: Forewings are long, projecting far beyond the hindwings when the butterfly is at rest. Upperside of wings is dark brown; forewing with some pale spots. Underside of hindwing is brown with no markings; female has a blue-purple iridescent sheen.

Life history: Flight is rapid and adults may feed while hanging upside down from flowers.

Flight: In warm summer months in the north; August-October in Arizona; throughout the year in Florida and South Texas.

Caterpillar hosts: Rice (Oryza sativa), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), and trompetilla grass (Hymenachne amplexicaulis).

Adult food: Nectar from flowers of lantana, shepherd's needle, swamp milkweed, buttonbush, and pickerelweed.

Habitat: Low damp fields and pastures.

Range: Resident from Paraguay north through tropical America and the West Indies to South Texas and the Deep South. Strays north to southeast Arizona, west Texas, central Missouri, Ohio, central Pennsylvania, and Long Island.

Conservation: Not usually required.

The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

Management needs: None reported.

References:


Bailowitz, R. A., and J. P. Brock. 1991. Butterflies of southeastern Arizona. 

     Sonoran Arthropod Studies, Inc., Tucson, Arizona. 342 pages.



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.



Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of western USA butterflies including 

     adjacent parts of Canada and Mexico. Denver and Fort Collins, CO. 

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.      

Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola)
distribution map
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