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

Photograph

© Norbert Kondla     (Photo ID #74030)

Map

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Distribution of Polites draco in British Columbia.
(Click on the map to view a larger version.)
Source: Butterflies of British Columbia by Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard © Royal BC Museum

Species Information


Adult

The median row of light spots on the ventral hindwing is arranged in an irregular line, as in the Sandhill Skipper. The Draco Skipper, however, lacks the transverse lines overlying this median row that are present on the wings of the Sandhill Skipper. Also, the ranges of the Draco Skipper and the Sandhill Skipper do not come close to overlapping in BC.

Immature Stages

Undescribed.

Subspecies

None. The type locality of the species has been restricted to Twin Lakes, Lake Co., CO (Brown and Miller 1980).

Genus Description


The name Polites is from Polites, a son of Priam of Troy and Hecuba. Polites was a swift runner, and perhaps Scudder meant that members of the genus were swift fliers.

The genus Polites is Nearctic, occurring from northern Mexico to southern Canada. The 12 species (MacNeill 1993) are well represented in British Columbia, where six species occur. A seventh species, Polites mardon (W.H. Edwards, 1881), occurs just south, in the Puget Trough of Washington, and is one of the few possible species that did not colonize Vancouver Island.

Biology


The Draco Skipper flies from late June to early July in northeastern BC. The foodplant is unknown.

Habitat


In BC, the Draco Skipper is known only from north of Atlin and the Stikine River. There are several populations just north of BC, near Whitehorse, YT. The Draco Skipper is found in the dry grassland habitat in the rain shadow of the St. Elias Mountains and Coast Ranges.

Distribution

Distribution

The Draco Skipper is found in a series of disjunct populations from north of Whitehorse to the Stikine River of BC and then from Hinton, AB, south to AZ and NM in the Rocky Mountains. In BC it is found in dry pine areas with extensive grass, flying with Parnassius smintheus yukonensis.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeS3BlueNot Listed



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