Species Detail

Common Roadside-Skipper

Amblyscirtes vialis (W.H. Edwards, 1862)

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Attributes of Amblyscirtes vialis

Family: Skippers (Hesperiidae)

Subfamily: Grass Skippers (Hesperiinae)

Identification: Upperside is black with a few small white spots at the tip of the forewing. Underside is dark brown with violet-gray at the forewing tip and the outer half of the hindwing.

Life history: To await receptive females, males perch on the ground or low plants in forest openings or edges, waving their antennae in small circles. Females deposit eggs singly on the host plants; caterpillars eat leaves, and make shelters of rolled and tied leaves. Caterpillars hibernate.

Flight: One brood from March-July; a partial second brood up to September in the south.

Wing span: 7/8 - 1 1/4 inches (2.2 - 3.2 cm).

Caterpillar hosts: Various grasses including wild oats (Avena), bent grass (Agrostis), bluegrass (Poa), Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), and Indian woodoats grass (Chasmanthium latifolia).

Adult food: These skippers prefer nectar from low-growing blue flowers including verbena and selfheal.

Habitat: Open areas in or near woodland, often close to streams.

Range: The Roadside Skipper is the most widespread skipper in North America. It occurs from British Columbia east across southern Canada to Maine and Nova Scotia; south to central California, northern New Mexico, Texas, the Gulf states, and northern Florida.

Conservation: Not usually required.

NatureServe Global Status: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

Management needs: None reported.