Butterflies and Moths of North America

collecting and sharing data about Lepidoptera

Sleepy Duskywing
Erynnis brizo (Boisduval & Leconte, [1837])


Family: Hesperiidae
Subfamily: Pyrginae
Identification: Antennal clubs are blunt. Upperside brown; forewing with 2 wide gray bands and no transparent spots. Male has a costal fold containing yellow scent scales; female has a patch of scent scales on the 7th abdominal segment.
Wing Span: 1 1/4 - 1 3/4 inches (3.2 - 4.5 cm).
Life History: To seek females, males perch in clearings and on hilltops throughout the day. Patrolling around the host plants occurs when there is a high density of males. Females deposit single eggs on young leaves or leaf buds of the host plants. Caterpillars feed on leaves and rest in leaf shelters; fully-grown caterpillars hibernate.
Flight: One brood; from January-May in Florida and Texas, from March-June in the rest of the range.
Caterpillar Hosts: Scrub oak (Quercus ilicifolia) and other shrubby oaks.
Adult Food: Nectar from flowers of heaths (Ericaceae) including wild azalea and blueberry; also blackberry and dandelion.
Habitat: Oak or oak-pine scrub, chaparral, barrens; on well-drained sandy or shaly soils.
Range: In the west from California east to Utah and southern Wyoming; south through the mountains to Arizona, New Mexico, Baja California Norte and central Mexico. In the east from Manitoba south through southern Ontario and the eastern United States to central Florida, the Gulf Coast, and central Texas.
Conservation: Not usually required.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: None reported.
Comments: NULL
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