Wallengrenia otho

Wallengrenia otho
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Genus:	Wallengrenia
Species:	W. otho
Binomial name
Wallengrenia otho (Smith, 1797)
Synonyms
Papilio otho Smith, 1797 Thymelicus otho Thymelicus pustula Hübner, [1819] (nom. nud.) Thymelicus pustula Geyer, 1832 Pamphila lacordairii Godman, 1900 (nom. nud.) Catia jobrea Dyar, 1918 Hesperia drury Latreille, [1824] Catia druryi Oligoria drurii Hesperia clavus Erichson, 1848 Pamphila helva Möschler, 1877 Hesperia curassavica Snellen, 1887 Pamphila winslowi Weeks, 1906 Hesperia mago Herrich-Schäffer, 1863 Wallengrenia misera Hesperia gemma Plötz, 1883 Pamphila ravola Godman & Salvin, 1884 Wallengrenia opthites Wallengrenia gemma

Wallengrenia otho, the southern broken dash or broken dash skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It was originally described by Smith in 1797. It is found from eastern Texas and the southeastern United States, south through the West Indies and Central America to Argentina. Strays can be found as far north as central Missouri, northern Kentucky and Delaware.

Wallengrenia otho ophites, male

The wingspan is 24–35 mm. Adults are on wing from April to October in two generations (sometimes a partial third) in most of North America. In peninsular Florida and southern Texas, adults are on wing all year round.

The larvae feed on Paspalum species and Stenotaphrum secundatum. Adults feed on the nectar from flowers including pickerelweed, selfheal and sweet pepperbush.

Subspecies

There appears to be some uncertainty as to whether Wallengrenia egeremet is a subspecies of W. otho.

• Wallengrenia otho otho (Georgia to Mexico and Brazil (Amazonas))
• Wallengrenia otho drury (Latreille, [1824]) (Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico)
• Wallengrenia otho clavus (Erichson, 1848) (Mexico to Brazil, Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela)
• Wallengrenia otho misera (Lucas, 1857) (Cuba, Bahamas, Honduras)
• Wallengrenia otho ophites (Mabille, 1878) (Antilles, Dominica)
• Wallengrenia otho vesuria (Plötz, 1882) (Jamaica)
• Wallengrenia otho sapuca Evans, 1955 (Paraguay)

External links

• Butterflies and Moths of North America