Horace's Duskywing
Erynnis horatius
Summary 5
Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae, subfamily Pryginae. There are two broods in the north from April-September and three broods in the Deep South and Texas from January-November.
Description 5
Upper side of male forewing is dark brown with little contrast and no white overscaling. Upper side of female forewing is light brown with a contrasting pattern and large transparent spots. Underside of hind wing is usually without 2 spots below the apex. Fringes are brown. Male has a costal fold containing yellow scent scales; female has a patch of scent scales on the 7th abdominal segment.
Larva Description 5
Head is large, orange with slightly darker orange spots dorso-lateral to stemmata (eyes). Body pale green covered with small white spots and short setae.
Larval host plants 5
Both red and white oaks including willow oak (Quercus phellos), northern red oak (Q. velutina), scrub oak (Q. ilicifolia), water oak (Q. nigra), post oak (Q. stellata), and live oak (Q. virginiana).
GTM Occurrence 5
Horace's Duskywing is considered a common species at the GTM. It occurs along all transects and is most commonly seen in the open habitat along Transect A. It is also common in the forests along the Marsh Pond Overlook (Transect B) and the Glasswort Loop (Transect C). It is least common along the Red Bay Walk (Transect D). This species occurs from February to December with peak abundance from May to September. This is the eighth most common species of butterfly at GTM. There have been 442 specimens observed as of December 28, 2015.
Distribution 6
It is found from Massachusetts, west to eastern South Dakota, south through most of the eastern United States to Florida, the Gulf Coast, and southern Texas, south in the west through south-eastern Utah, Colorado, north-eastern Arizona, and New Mexico.
Habitat 7
From about extreme southern New Jersey southward, almost any kind of forest, woodland, edge or other habitat with oaks and adequate nectar, including suburban situations. Absent or nearly so from areas such as the pristine sections of the New Jersey Pine Barrens and some xeric southeastern pinelands that lack summer nectar. It is more restricted to xeric rocky areas and barrens north of southern New Jersey. Oak woodlands westward.
Nature serve conservation status 8
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
Sources and Credits
- (c) Katja Schulz, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/86548370@N00/4800577641
- (c) John Flannery, some rights reserved (CC BY-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/drphotomoto/8661336049/
- (c) Vicki DeLoach, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/vickisnature/7649466142/
- (c) GTMResearchReserve, all rights reserved, uploaded by GTMResearchReserve
- (c) GTMResearchReserve, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
- Adapted by GTMResearchReserve from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erynnis_horatius
- Adapted by GTMResearchReserve from a work by (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28798082
- Adapted by GTMResearchReserve from a work by (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28798076
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
- Maryland Biodiversity Project
- Maryland Moths
- Mass Moths
- Moth Photographers Group
- Moths of North Carolina
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- Pacific Northwest Moths
iNat Map
| Category name | Common |
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