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Cassus Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes cassus W. H. Edwards)
Wing span: 1 - 1 1/4 inches (2.5 - 3.2 cm).
Identification: Fringes are checkered; male forewing has a small dark stigma. Upperside is reddish brown; forewing with a postmedian row of red-orange spots, hindwing with no markings. Underside of hindwing is mottled light and dark gray, and has 2 faint rows of white spots.
Life history: Not reported.
Flight: One brood from June-September.
Caterpillar hosts: Grasses including bulb panicgrass (Panicum bulbosum).
Adult food: Nectar from flowers including Monarda and Asclepius.
Habitat: Open oak woodland, rocky washes.
Range: Arizona and New Mexico south to west Texas and northern Mexico.
Conservation: Not usually required.
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:
Bailowitz, R. A., and J. P. Brock. 1991. Butterflies of southeastern Arizona.
Sonoran Arthropod Studies, Inc.,Tucson, Arizona. 342 pages.
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.
Tilden, J. W. 1986. A field guide to western butterflies. Houghton-Mifflin Co.,
Boston, Mass. 370 pages, 23 color plates.
Author: Jane M. Struttmann
State and Regional References:
Neck, R.W. 1996. A Field Guide to Butterflies of Texas. Gulf Publishing Co.,
Houston, Texas.
Opler, Paul A. 1999. Peterson Field Guide to Western Butterflies, revised
edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.
Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western USA Butterflies.
Privately published, Denver, Colo.
Tilden, J.W. and A.C. Smith. 1986. A Field Guide to Western Butterflies.
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.
Tveten, J. and Tveten, G. 1996. Butterflies of Houston & Southeast Texas.
Univ. of Texas Press, Austin, TX. 292 pp.
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