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Skipper (butterfly)
| Skippers | |
|---|---|
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| Female Essex Skipper, Thymelicus lineola | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Hesperioidea |
| (unranked): | Rhopalocera |
| Family: | Hesperiidae Latreille, 1809 |
The Skippers are a family of butterflies, the Hesperiidae. They are named after their quick, darting flight.
They are a bit different from other butterflies, which are classified in the superfamily Papilionoidea. Skippers have their antennae clubs hooked backward like a crochet. The other butterflies have club-like tips to their antennae. Skippers also have generally stockier bodies than the other two groups, with stronger wing muscles. Hesperioidea is very likely the sister group of Papilionoidea.[1]
Classification
There are about 3400 species of Skippers. They are usually classified in the following subfamilies:
- Awls, Awlets and Policemen (Subfamily Coeliadinae, about 75 species)
- Grass Skippers (Subfamily Hesperiinae, over 2000 species)
- Skipperlings (Subfamily Heteropterinae, about 150 species)
- Giant Skippers (Subfamily Megathyminae, about 100 species)
- Spread-winged Skippers (Subfamily Pyrginae, about 1000 species)
- Firetips (Subfamily Pyrrhopyginae, about 150 species)
- Australian Skippers (Subfamily Trapezitinae, about 60 species)
Many species of skippers look frustratingly alike. For example, some species in the genera Erynnis, Hesperia, and Amblyscirtes cannot currently be distinguished in the field by experts, the only reliable method of telling them apart involving dissection and examination of the genitalia.
Examples
Examples include:
- Aaron's Skipper - Poanes aaroni
- Chequered Skipper - Carterocephalus palaemon
- Small Skipper - Thymelicus sylvestris
- Essex Skipper - Thymelicus lineola
- Lulworth Skipper - Thymelicus acteon
- Silver-spotted Skipper - Hesperia comma
- Large Skipper - Ochlodes venata
- Dingy Skipper - Erynnis tages
- Grizzled Skipper - Pyrgus malvae
- Dakota Skipper - Hesperia dacotae
References
- ↑ Ackery P.R; de Jong R. and Vane-Wright R.I. 1999. The Butterflies: Hedyloidea, Hesperioidea and Papilionoidae. 263-300 in Kristensen N.P. (ed) Handbook of Zoology: a natural history of the phyla of the animal kingdom. Volume IV: Arthropoda: Insecta, Part 35: Lepidoptera: moths and butterflies; and Vol.1: Evolution, systematics, and biogeography: 263–300. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York.
Other websites
- Skippers of North America: Large format diagnostic photographs Cirrus Digital Imaging
- Tree of Life Hesperiidae
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Wikispecies has information on: Hesperiidae. |
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