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Thorybes pylades Scudder, 1872
Cloudywings; Northern Cloudy Wing
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 #8606)

Map

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Distribution of Thorybes pylades 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 Northern Cloudywing is similar to the Silver-spotted Skipper except that it lacks the silver spot on the ventral hindwing and the median row of spots on the dorsal forewing is much smaller. The ground colour of the wings is milk-chocolate brown. The sharply bent back antennal club, pointed forewing, and long discal cell separate this species from the other Pyrginae. Forewing length is 1.8-2.1 cm.

Immature Stages

The Northern Cloudywing has not been reared in the PNW. Comstock and Dammers (1933), for California populations, and Scudder (1889b), for eastern populations, give good descriptions of the immature stages. The egg has 15 ribs and is pale green. The head of the mature larva is black with dense hairs. The first thoracic segment is black. Scudder describes the remaining body as dark green with a narrow, brownish green dorsal stripe, a dull salmon lateral stripe, and a similar infrastigmatal band. Comstock and Dammers describe the larva as buff orange, with stripes similar to the eastern ones but maroon in colour. It is not clear whether these colour variations are geographically based or represent small, non-typical samples from the respective areas.

Subspecies

The BC populations belong to the nominate subspecies (TL: "Massachusetts").

Genus Description


The name Thorybes may be derived from the Greek thorybos (uproar or clamour), but this has no apparent relevance to the butterfly. The name "cloudywings" refers to the indefinite pattern of the ventral hindwing, and was first coined by Scudder (1889b). Evans (1952) recognized six species in this Neotropical genus. The larvae feed on various genera of Fabaceae.

Biology


Adults are on the wing from late April to early August, with peak flight occurring in the last third of June. Eggs are laid singly on the under surface of leaves. In California the larvae mature by fall, overwinter as larvae, pupate in March, and emerge as adults in May. In the east the larvae pupate from late July to September, and there is a partial second brood. The pupae overwinter. There is one brood in British Columbia. The larvae have been recorded on a number of plants: in the east on Trifolium pratense, T. repens, Lespedeza capitata, and L. hirta; in California on Amorpha californica. In Colorado the Northern Cloudywing has been observed ovipositing on Lathyrus sp. (Scott 1992). Trifolium sp. and Lathyrus sp. occur in BC.

Habitat


The Northern Cloudywing is found across the southern third of the province and in the northeast. The habitat is aspen parkland, mesic meadows, and edges of streams below 1,000 m elevation. Usually only single individuals are seen at any given locality.

Distribution

Distribution

The Northern Cloudywing is generally distributed across temperate North America.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeS5YellowNot Listed



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