North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Sickle-winged Skipper (Eantis tamenund)
JPG -- species photo

Sickle-winged Skipper (Achlyodes tamenund [W. H. Edwards])

Wing span: 1 3/8 - 1 3/4 inches (3.5 - 4.5 cm).

Identification: Forewing is pointed, with a shallow indentation below the apex. Upperside of male is dark brown with a purple sheen and pale brown spots; female is brown with bands of square blue-gray or olive-gray spots.

Life history: Adults rest under or on top of leaves. Females deposit eggs singly on the top of host plant leaves, which the caterpillars eat. Caterpillars rest in nests of silked-together leaves.

Flight: Many flights all year in South Texas; most common from August-November.

Caterpillar hosts: Trees in the citrus family (Rutaceae): prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum fagara) in Texas; Z. monophyllum and various Citrus species in tropical America.

Adult food: Flower nectar.

Habitat: Openings and edges in tropical thorn forest and scrub; city gardens.

Range: Argentina north through tropical America and the West Indies to South Texas. A regular stray north to central Texas, rarely to Arkansas and Kansas.

Conservation: Maintain habitat extent and integrity in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G4 - Apparently secure globally, though it might be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

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.



Tilden, J. W. 1986. A field guide to western butterflies. Houghton-Mifflin Co., 

     Boston, Mass. 370 pages, 23 color plates.

Author: Jane M. Struttmann

Sickle-winged Skipper (Eantis tamenund)
distribution map
map legend

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