Erynnis baptisiae

Erynnis baptisiae, the wild indigo duskywing, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in North America from southern New England and southern Ontario west to central Nebraska, south to Georgia, the Gulf Coast, and south-central Texas.

Erynnis baptisiae

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Erynnis
Species:
E. baptisiae
Binomial name
Erynnis baptisiae
(Forbes, 1936)

The species is rapidly expanding its range and abundance by colonizing plantings of crown vetch along roadways and railroad beds.

Erynnis lucilius, Erynnis baptisiae and Erynnis persius belong to the "Persius species complex", a confusing group of very similar species.

The wingspan is 35–41 mm. Adults are on wing from late April to early June and again from July to August. There are two generations per year.

The larvae mainly feed on Baptisia tinctoria, but have also been recorded on Baptisia australis, Lupinus perennis, Thermopsis villosa and Coronilla varia. Adults feed on nectar from flowers of blackberry, white sweet clover, dogbane, sunflower, crimson clover and probably others.

References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 Erynnis baptisiae Wild Indigo Duskywing". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 29 September 2020.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.