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Crossline Skipper - Polites origenes
General Description
[From Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001] Forewing 1.4-1.6 cm. Forewing pointed. Uppersurface of male forewing with stigma (male scent patch) gray-brown, elongate, relatively straight and narrow, male forewing also with extensive orange and an additonal yellowish spot distal to stigma; female dark brown, forewing usually with litle or no orange along costa, a large squarish yellowish patch below end of cell. Undersurface of hindwing (both sexes) usually light brown or tan with a faint postmedian band of distinct paler spots and a "brassy" appearance.
Phenology
One flight, late June to mid-July northward and in the mountains; two flights, June to early September in the Upper Midwest (Scott 1986). Mid-June through July (Glassberg 2001). Late June to mid-August in eastern Canada (Layberry et al. 1998), mid-June through July in the Rocky Mountain states (Ferris and Brown 1981), early June to mid-July in Colorado (Scott and Scott 1978; Scott and Epstein 1987), late June to early August in North Dakota (McCabe and Post 1976).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Best determined by a combination of male forewing stigma gray-brown, elongate, relatively straight and narrow, wing with extensive orange and an additional yellowish spot distal to stigma; female forewing dark brown usually with litle or no orange along costa, a squarish yellowish patch below end of cell. Hindwing undersurface usually light brown or tan with a faint postmedian band of distinct paler spots.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Eastern Montana and western North Dakota south along Rocky Mountain front in Colorado to northeastern New Mexico, east to southern Ontario, southeastern Quebec, and central Maine south to northeastern Texas, Gulf Coast, northern Florida (Scott 1986; Layberry 1998; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001); 1585 m to 2316 m elevation in Colorado (Brown 1957; Scott and Scott 1978). In Montana, reported since 1994 from at least 5 far eastern counties (Carter, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Richland), to about 1070 m elevation (FLMNH Lepidopterists' Society database); reports from Gallatin and Madison counties (Kohler 1980) apparently in error (Stanford and Opler 1993). Locally uncommon to common (Glassberg 2001).
Migration
Non-migratory.
Habitat
Old fields, grassy openings, dry and moist meadows, prairie hills, barrens, power-line corridors, open woodland (Scott 1986; Layberry et al. 1998; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001; Swengel and Swengel 2015). Habitat in Montana not described but probably similar.
Food Habits
Larval food plants are grasses, including Andropogon (multiple species), Bouteloua, Panicum, and Tridens (Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986, 1992, 2006; Layberry et al. 1998). Adults feed on flower nectar (including Achillea, Apocynum, Asclepias, Blephilia, Carduus, Cirsium, Clematis, Diospyros, Echinacea, Geranium, Hedysarum, Helianthus, Heterotheca, Medicago, Monarda, Oxytropis, Penstemon, Ratibida, Solidago, Symphoricarpos, Verbena, Vernonia), willow sap, and mud (Tooker et al. 2002; Scott 2014).
Reproductive Characteristics
Limited information. Females lay eggs singly on host plant leaves, generally the undersurface. Larve feed on host plant leaves, live in rolled leaf nests 5-15 cm above ground, hibernate (diapause) as L3 and L4 instars, larvae, pupate and eclose (emerge as adults) the next spring (Scott 1979, 1986, 1992, 2006). Males perch throughout the day in grassy swales and valley bottoms awaiting passing females (Scott 1975b, 1986).
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Brown, F.M. 1957. Colorado Butterflies. Proceedings; Numbers Three through Seven. Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver, Co.- Ferris, C.D. and F.M. Brown (eds). 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountains. Univ. of Oklahoma Press. Norman. 442 pp.
- Glassberg, J. 2001. Butterflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Western North America. Oxford University Press.
- Kohler, S. 1980. Checklist of Montana Butterflies (Rhopalocera). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 34(1): 1-19.
- Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall, and J.D. LaFontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press. 280 pp. + color plates.
- McCabe, T.L. and R.L. Post. 1976. North Dakota butterfly calendar (including possible strays). Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 15:93-99.
- Opler, P.A. and A.B. Wright. 1999. A field guide to western butterflies. Second edition. Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 540 pp.
- Scott, J.A. 1975b. Mate-locating behavior of western North American butterflies. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 14:1-40.
- Scott, J.A. 1979. Hibernal diapause of North American Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 18(3): 171-200.
- Scott, J.A. 1986. The butterflies of North America: a natural history and field guide. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
- Scott, J.A. 1992. Hostplant records for butterflies and skippers (mostly from Colorado) 1959-1992, with new life histories and notes on oviposition, immatures, and ecology. Papilio new series #6. 185 p.
- Scott, J.A. 2006. Butterfly hostplant records, 1992-2005, with a treatise on the evolution of Erynnis, and a note on new terminology for mate-locating behavior. Papilio new series #14. 74 p.
- Scott, J.A. 2014. Lepidoptera of North America 13. Flower visitation by Colorado butterflies (40,615 records) with a review of the literature on pollination of Colorado plants and butterfly attraction (Lepidoptera: Hersperioidea and Papilionoidea). Contributions of the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthopod Diversity. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University. 190 p.
- Scott, J.A. and G.R. Scott. 1978. Ecology and distribution of the butterflies of southern central Colorado. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 17(2): 73-128.
- Scott, J.A. and M.E. Epstein. 1987. Factors affecting phenology in a temperate insect community. American Midland Naturalist 117(1): 103-118.
- Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of western USA butterflies: including adjacent parts of Canada and Mexico. Unpubl. Report. Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado 275 pp.
- Swengel, A.B and S.R. Swengel. 2015. Grass-skipper (Hesperiinae) trends in midwestern USA grasslands during 1988-2013. Journal of Insect Conservation 19:279-292.
- Tooker, J.F., P.F. Reagel, and L.M. Hanks. 2002. Nectar sources of day-flying lepidoptera of central Illinois. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 95(1): 84-96.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Allen, T.J., J.P. Brock, and J. Glassberg. 2005. Caterpillars in the field and garden: a field guide to the butterfly caterpillars of North America. Oxford University Press.
- Brock, J.P. and K. Kaufman. 2003. Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY 284 pp.
- Forister, M.L., C.A. Halsch, C.C. Nice, J.A. Fordyce, T.E. Dilts, J.C. Oliver, K.L. Prudic, A.M. Shapiro, J.K. Wilson, J. Glassberg. 2021. Fewer butterflies seen by community scientists across the warming and drying landscapes of the American West. Science 371:1042-1045.
- Forister, M.L., E.M. Grames, C.A. Halsch, K.J. Burls, C.F. Carroll, K.L. Bell, J.P. Jahner, et al. 2023. Assessing risk for butterflies in the context of climate change, demographic uncertainty, and heterogeneous data sources. Ecological Monographs 93(3):e1584. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1584
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