Erynnis baptisiae
Size:
Wingspan is1 3/8 - 1 5/8 inches.
Similar Species:
Zarucco Duskywing
Horace's Duskywing
Juvenal's Duskywing
(spring only)
Mottled Duskywing (rare)
Habitat:
Dry places, sand
and dirt roads, powerline clearings, openings in longleaf pine/scrub oak
woods. In the mountains openings in
woods where Crown
Vetch grows abundantly.
Range/Abundance:
Uncommon to locally common in the
mountains. Uncommon to rare in the piedmont and coastal plain.
Flight Period:
Adults fly from late March until mid October in three broods with gaps
between broods.
Larval Host Plants:
Wild Indigo Baptisia tinctoria, Wild Blue Indigo B. australis,
Crown Vetch Coronilla
varia, Lupine Lupinus perennis
and False Lupine Thermopsis villosa
Comments:
This species is very hard to tell from the less common Zarucco
Duskywing which flies at the same times and in most of the same places.
Since Zarucco Duskywing is not normally found in the mountains, it makes
getting the identification much easier in the mountains.
The top photo was taken at the Occoneechee State Preserve in Orange Co.,
NC on June 21, 2003. The second photo was taken inside Hill Forest along
the Flat River in Durham Co., NC on June 18, 2004. The third photo was
taken inside Hill Forest along the Flat River in Durham Co., NC on June
07, 2004. The bottom photo was taken in Smyth Co., VA on July 20, 2002.
