North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Virginia

Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes aesculapius)
JPG -- species photo

Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes aesculapius [Fabricius])

Wing span: 1 3/16 - 1 1/2 inches (3 - 3.8 cm).

Identification: Fringes are checkered black and white. Upperside of wings is dark brown; forewing has a row of white spots. Underside is dark brown with a yellow or white cobweb pattern.

Life history: Not reported.

Flight: Two broods from March-September.

Caterpillar hosts: Probably cane (Arundinaria).

Adult food: Nectar from flowers including elephant's-foot, sweet pepperbush, blackberry, white clover, selfheal, and dogbane.

Habitat: Moist, dense woods with cane growth.

Range: Eastern Oklahoma and east Texas east to southeast Virginia, south along the Atlantic Coast to northern Florida.

Conservation: Populations should be monitored as habitat is gradually being reduced by drainage and conversion to agriculture.

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.

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:

Glassberg,  J.  1993.  Butterflies Through Binoculars: A Field Guide to 
     Butterflies in the Boston-New York-Washington Region.  Oxford Univ. Press, 
     New York, N.Y.  160 pp.    

Clark, A.H. and Clark, L.F. 1951.  The Butterflies of Virginia.  Smithsonian
     Miscellaneous collection No. 116:1-239.

Layberry, R.A., Hall, P.W. & Lafontaine, D.J., 1998.  The Butterflies of 
     Canada.  University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON.  280 pp. 
     
Opler, P.A. 1998. A field guide to eastern butterflies, revised format.
     Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.     

Woodbury, E.N.  1994.  Butterflies of Delmarva.  Delaware Nature Society, Inc., 
     Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD.  138 pp.  [NOTE: this book only 
     treats True Butterflies (Papilionoidea).  It does not treat Skippers 
     (Hesperioidea).]
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes aesculapius)
distribution map
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