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Horace's Duskywing - Erynnis horatius

 

Classification

 Kingdom: Animalia
 Phylum: Arthropoda
 Class: Insecta
 Order: Lepidoptera
 Family: Hesperiidae
 Genus: Erynnis

Description

Horace's DuskywingHorace's duskywing is a large skipper with a wingspan of 1.5 to 2 inches. It has brown-fringed wings. The male has dark brown forewings with small white spots. The female has lighter, mottled brown forewings with larger white spots. The male has a costal fold containing yellow scent scales.

Range

mapHorace's duskywing is found from South Dakota east to New England and south to Texas and Florida. It is also found in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Habitat

Horace's duskywing is found in sunny spots at the edges of woodlands, clearings, oak scrub, and roadsides.

Diet

The Horace's duskywing caterpillar eats new leaves of red and white oak trees including northern red oak, scrub oak, water oak, and willow oak. The adult prefers flowering plants that are 4.5 feet tall including goldenrod, dogbane, buttonbush, and peppermint.

Life Cycle

Horace's DuskywingThe male Horace's duskywing perches on a twig about a foot above the ground and waits for a female. The female lays one egg at a time on the new leaves of host plants. The female Horace's duskywing produces two or three broods a year. The caterpillars in the last brood overwinter. The caterpillar is hairy with a light green body with white spots. It has a red, orange, or yellow head.