E-Fauna BC: Electronic Atlas of the Wildlife of British Columbia

Amblyscirtes vialis Scudder, 1872
Roadside Skipper
Family: Hesperiidae (Skippers)
Species account authors: Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard.
Extracted from Butterflies of British Columbia
Introduction to the Lepidoptera of BC
The Families of Lepidoptera of BC
Introduction to the Butterflies of BC
Photo of species

© Jeremy Gatten  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #5991)
E-Fauna BC Static Map
Distribution of Amblyscirtes vialis in British Columbia
Details about map content are available here.

Species Information


Adult

The Roadside Skipper is a uniform dark chocolate brown on the uppersides of the wings. There is a faint row of median light spots on the dorsal forewing. On the underside, the same brown ground colour appears grey due to the presence of white scales on the outer half of both forewing and hindwing.

Immature Stages

Scudder (1889b) described the immatures. The egg is pale green and wider than high. The mature larval head appears white due to a covering of short white hairs. There are also several reddish brown vertical stripes on the head. The body of the larva is pallid green and has many pale green spots, each with a short hair. The prolegs are pale green.

Subspecies

None. The type locality of the species is western IL.

Genus Description


The name Amblyscirtes may be derived from ambl (blunt) and skirtao (leap), perhaps referring to the short, hopping flights of members of this genus (Bird et al. 1995). The generic common name "roadside skippers" (Scudder 1889b) is derived from the most common species in the genus, "the" Roadside Skipper, A. vialis. The genus Amblyscirtes is Nearctic, with 20 species found mostly from northern Mexico through the eastern United States. Only one species occurs in British Columbia.

Biology


In BC the Roadside Skipper is univoltine. It flies from mid-May to mid-June, with occasional females seen until mid-July. Elsewhere in the southern limits of the species' range, it is double-brooded. Scudder mentions the larval foodplant as "grasses."

Habitat


The Roadside Skipper is found across southern BC and in the Peace River region. It is found in mesic grassy meadows, especially in aspen forest and riparian habitat.

Distribution

Distribution

The Roadside Skipper ranges from BC to NS and south in the western USA to central CA and northern NM in mesic habitats, especially aspen forests. In the east it occurs south to TX and FL.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeS5YellowNot Listed
BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer--the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Additional Photo Sources

Flickr Image Search
Google Image Search
Images from Calphoto

General References

Google Scholar Search
Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2021. E-Fauna BC: Electronic Atlas of the Fauna of British Columbia [efauna.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2023-10-01 8:54:54 PM]
Disclaimer: The information contained in an E-Fauna BC atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited (with permission) in each section. This information is scientifically based.  E-Fauna BC also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links.  As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information.  E-Fauna BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.

© E-Fauna BC 2021: An initiative of the Spatial Data Lab, Department of Geography, UBC