Little Glassywing
Pompeius verna
Summary 4
The Little Glassywing (Pompeius verna) is a species of butterfly of the Hesperiidae family, subfamily Hesperiinae (Grass Skippers). Males perch on low vegetation in sunny clearings to wait for females; courtship usually occurs around noon. Larvae eat leaves of their host plant and live in shelters of rolled or tied leaves.
Description 5
Wings are black or blackish brown. Upper side of male forewing has a large transparent white spot below the end of the black stigma and several other spots above and below it. Female forewing has a transparent square spot at the end of the cell. Underside of both sexes is black, sometimes with a purple sheen, and often has a few distinct pale spots.
Wing Span: 1 1/16 - 1 1/2 inches (2.7 - 3.9 cm).
Larva Description 5
Head and prothorax blackish; body yellowish-green to yellowish-brown with black dots at setal bases, a faint, dark dorsal stripe and three faint dark lateral lines on each side (Scott, 1986).
Larval Host Plants 5
The grass Purpletop (Tridens flavus); Poaceae).
GTM Occurrence 5
The Little Glassywing is considered a rare species at the GTM. Most observations are in the open habitat along Transect A with a single observation on the Red Bay Walk (Transect D). This species was observed three times on July 29 (1 specimen) and September 20, 2009 (1 specimen) and on August 26, 2013 (2 specimens). There have been 4 specimens observed as of December 28, 2015.
Distribution 4
The Little Glassywing is found from central New England west to central Nebraska, south to northern Florida, the Gulf Coast and southern Texas.
Habitat 6
Generally in more or less wooded countryside in old fields, edges, right of ways, edges of wetlands and other open flowery, grassy situations. Habitat may vary regionally. Not usually seen far from trees.
Nature serve conservation status 7
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
Sources and Credits
- (c) summerazure, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/45351814@N07/6437159093
- (c) Vicki DeLoach, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/vickisnature/7716509514/
- (c) Dendroica cerulea, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/dendroica/18904927862/
- Adapted by GTMResearchReserve from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeius_verna
- (c) GTMResearchReserve, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28820698
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28820692
More Info
iNat Map
| Category name | rare |
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