Cobweb Skipper
Hesperia metea Scudder, 1864
Family: Hesperiidae
Subfamily: Hesperiinae
Identification: Wings are dark brown or blackish with few light areas. Underside of hindwing has a cobwebbed appearance due to white spots extending along the veins. Subspecies licinus in Texas and Arkansas is very dark both above and below.
Wing Span: 1 1/8 - 1 3/8 inches (2.9 - 3.5 cm).
Life History: To wait for females, males perch near the host plants all day. Females lay eggs singly on or near the host plants. Caterpillars eat leaves and live in nests of rolled or tied leaves. Fully-grown caterpillars hibernate.
Flight: One brood from late March to early June.
Caterpillar Hosts: Beard grasses including little bluestem (Andropogon scoparius and A. s. var. glomeratus) and big bluestem (A. gerardi).
Adult Food: Nectar from flowers of low-growing plants such as Labrador tea, wild strawberry, blackberry, bird's-foot violet, winter cress, and red clover; also lilac, vervain, Carolina larkspur, and wild hyacinth.
Habitat: Dry, grassy openings in woods, pine barrens, oak savannah, open sandy scrub, burned areas, old pastures.
Range: Patchy distribution from southern Maine west to Wisconsin; south to central Georgia, the Gulf States, and central Texas.
Conservation: Not usually required.
NCGR: G4 - Apparently secure globally, though it might be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: None reported.
Comments: NULL
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Verified Sightings
Displaying 49 - 72 of 701 verified sightings
Observation date: May 28, 1995
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Broad Meadow Brook Sanctuary)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 11, 1999
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Matt Pelikan)
Region: Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: Jun 01, 1996
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Tom Dodd+Cathy Asselin)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 08, 1999
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Gail Howe)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 29, 1999
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Dottie Case)
Region: Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 12, 1991
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Tom Dodd)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 24, 1998
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Tom Dodd+Cathy Dodd)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 23, 1999
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Butterfly Institute - West)
Region: Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 29, 2000
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Bob Bowker)
Region: Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 31, 2009
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Matt Pelikan)
Region: Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: Jun 10, 2003
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Barbara Walker)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 28, 2008
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Tom Gagnon #)
Region: Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 25, 2000
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Gail Howe)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 13, 2010
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Tom Gagnon)
Region: Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: Jun 05, 2001
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Gail Howe)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 10, 2010
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Sam Jaffe)
Region: Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 20, 2000
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Bob Bowker)
Region: Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 31, 2003
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Tom Murray)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 21, 2010
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Bo Zaremba)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 19, 2002
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Madeline Champagne + MBC)
Region: Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 20, 2006
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (MBC (Murray+Nielsen))
Region: Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 28, 2007
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Carl Kamp)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: May 31, 1999
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Tom Dodd)
Region: Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
Observation date: Jun 05, 2001
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Matt Pelikan)
Region: Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States
Verified by: sharonstichter2 (MBC Recordkeeper)
Verified date: Jan 01, 2012
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