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.
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