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Little Glassywing- Pompeius verna

Classification

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

Description

The little glassywing has a wingspan of 1 to 1.25 inches. It has dark brown wings with white patches. It has an especially distinctive middle spot on its forewings. In females, this spot is slightly square and translucent. This is where the name glassywing comes from! In the male, the center patch is long and slanted. The male has a black stigma on his forewings. The stigma is a section of scent cells located on the forewings of the males of some species of butterflies. The undersides of its wings are a dark brown, sometimes with a few dull spots.

Range

In North America, the little glassywing is found from Minnesota east to southern Ontario, Canada and south to Texas and Florida. The little glassywing is found in New Hampshire.

Habitat

The little glassywing is found in moist meadows, bogs, fields, and gardens.

Diet

The little glassywing caterpillar eats purpletop. The adult little glassywing eats nectar from purple, pink, and white flowers including dogbane, selfheal, peppermint, joe-pye weed, common milkweed, and swamp milkweed.

Life Cycle

The female little glassywing lays eggs on the leaves of a host plant. The larvae uses silk to bind together leaves from the host plant to make a shelter. In the northern part of its range, the little glassywing has one brood a year. In the southern part of its range, it has two broods a year.