Atrytonopsis hianna
Size:
Wingspan is 1 1/4 - 1 11/16 inches.
Similar Species:
Clouded Skipper
Habitat:
Dry power line clearings, brushy fields and wooded borders. Usually found
in barre-looking places that one would not normally be looking for butterflies.
Range/Abundance:
Uncommon to rare in most
of the region. Can be locally common at some locations.
Flight Period:
Adults fly from mid April until mid June in a single brood.
Larval Host Plants:
Grasses including Little Bluestem Andropogon scoparius and Big Bluestem
A. gerardi.
Comments:
This species is widespread and is not found at the kind of sites you would
normally be looking for other butterflies during spring. Try looking in
browned out grassy weedy power lines and you might find it.
Look for the masked face as that sets it apart from other brown skippers.
The top and second photos were taken in Franklin Co., NC on April 24,
2002. The third photo was taken in Franklin Co., NC on April 27, 2003.
The fourth and bottom photos were taken in Pickens Co., SC on May 03,
2003.
