Summary ⁵

The Southern Skipperling (Copaeodes minima) is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. The smallest North American Skipper.

Description ⁶

Wings bright orange with narrow black border; forewing elongated. Male with narrow black forewing stigma. Female with black scaling along veins and broader black border. Ventral hind wing orange with narrow white ray through center.

Larva Description ⁶

Head green; whitish-greenvbody with darker green dorsal stripe.

Larval Host Plants ⁶

Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon, Poaceae).

GTM Occurrence ⁶

The Southern Skipperling is considered a frequent species at the GTM. It was most abundant along the Marsh Pond Overlook (Transect A) and frequent along the open habitat of Transect A. It occurs from April to October with peak abundance in June-July and October. It does not occur in all years. There have been 145 specimens observed as of December 28, 2015.

Distribution ⁶

It is found from Arkansas east to North Carolina, south through Florida, the Gulf states, Texas, and Mexico to Panama.

North american ecology (us and canada) ⁷

Habitats are subtropical to southern non-arid grassy places. Open moist grassy fields, pond shores; often disturbed

Nature serve conservation status ⁸

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/5222105063/
2. (c) K Schneider, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/zonotrichia/8558977712/
3. (c) pondhawk, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/38686613@N08/4747770344/
4. (c) GTMResearchReserve, all rights reserved, uploaded by GTMResearchReserve
5. Adapted by GTMResearchReserve from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copaeodes_minima
6. (c) GTMResearchReserve, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
7. (c) Leslie Ries, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/20625869
8. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28797956

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• BugGuide
• Butterflies and Moths of North America
• CUIC Insect Images
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• Moth Photographers Group
• Moths of North Carolina
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• Pacific Northwest Moths

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