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Urbanus dorantes

(Dorantes Longtail Skipper)

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Dorantes Longtail, Dorantes Longtail Skipper

Description

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Family Hesperiidae

'The Hesperiidae are members of the Superfamily Hesperioidea. Worldwide in distribution, skippers are richest in the tropics. More than 3,500 species are described, with approximately 275 in North America, many of which are found only in Arizona and Texas. Most skippers are small to medium, usually orange, brown, black, white, or gray. A few have iridescent colors. Skippers have large eyes, short antennae (often with hooked clubs), stout bodies, and three pairs of walking legs . Their flight is often rapid, making wing movement appear blurred. Adults of most species have long probicscises and feed on floral nectar, but some also take up nutrients from bird droppings. Males have scent scales found in modified forewing patches. Males of most species locate mates by perching (grass and giant-skippers), though some patrol, especially in the open-winged skippers. Globular eggs are laid singly.

'[1]

Subfamily Pyrginae

Pyrgines are primarily tropical American species of the Family Hesperiidae. There are approximately 80 North American species. Most genera are tropical, but the duskywings and checkered-skippers are mainly temperate and also occur in Eurasia . Adults of many species land with their wings open, although some perch with their wings closed or half open. They imbibe nectar from flowers, and males of many species take in moisture from moist sand or mud . Some adults also feed on bird droppings. Many tropical species rest underneath leaves when inactive . Females lay eggs singly. Most species lay eggs directly on host-plant leaves, while others lay on nearby plants or objects. Almost all species use broad-leafed plants as their caterpillar hosts, and caterpillars live in rolled-leaf or webbed-leaf shelters .[2]

Physical Description

Color:

Tails are long; fringes checkered. Body and wings are brown with no green iridescence. Forewing has prominent clear spots. Underside of hindwing has 2 bands of pale spots.

Size/Age/Growth

Wing span : 1 7/16 - 2 inches (3.7 - 5.1 cm).

Habitat

Roadsides, overgrown fields , edges of woods , gardens, clearings and along trails in hardwood hammocks .

The species is typically found along woodland borders , old fields, gardens, and other brushy places, in similar habitats to the closely-related Long-tailed Skipper. (ref. 104772)

Biology

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Diet

Caterpillar hosts: Various legumes including wild and cultivated beans (Phaseolus), beggar's ticks (Desmodium), and blue peas (Clitoria). Adult food: Flower nectar from shepherd's needle , lantana, trilisa, ironweed, bougainvillea, and others.

The foodplants are vine species of legumes. Dorantes Longtails nectar on a wide variety of flowers, especially on shepherd's-needle (Bidens pilosa). (ref. 104772)

Reproduction

The Dorantes Longtail Skipper feeds at flowers in the winter, but spends most of the time perching upside down under leaves.

Behavior

Flight: Three to four broods throughout the year in south Florida and South Texas.

Flight period: Dates of five records fall between early June and early October; the other two are not known. Remarkably, two of the records are from October 3, and both were seen by me at the N.C. State University arboretum , five years apart! The species flies all year in southern FL , but records for northern FL are mainly in late summer and fall. (ref. 104772)

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Provisionally Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Beccaloni G.

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Urbanus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 91 species and subspecies in this genus:

U. acawios · U. acawoios · U. agesilaus · U. albicuspis · U. albimargo · U. albimargo takuta · U. alva · U. amisus · U. athesis · U. atletes · U. barra · U. belli (Double-Striped Longtail) · U. borja · U. brachius · U. brevicaudata · U. calafia · U. cariosa · U. carmelita · U. cenis · U. chalco · U. chales · U. chlorothrix · U. cindra · U. cleopatra · U. clevas · U. corydon · U. cramptoni · U. domingo · U. dominicus · U. dorantes (Dorantes Longtail Skipper) · U. dorantes dorantes · U. doryssus (White-Tailed Longtail) · U. doryssus doryssus · U. elmina · U. esma · U. esmeraldus (Esmeralda Longtail) · U. esta · U. eurycles · U. evenus · U. evona (Turquoise Longtail) · U. galapagensis · U. gracillcauda · U. herophilus · U. huancavillcas · U. hubellus · U. interruptus · U. kefersteinii · U. larius · U. latipennis · U. leucites · U. loxo · U. miltas · U. motilones · U. nigricauda · U. nivosus · U. obscurus · U. parvus · U. pilatus · U. platowii · U. plinius · U. procne (Brown Longtail) · U. prodicus · U. pronta · U. pronus (Pronus Longtail) · U. proteoides · U. proteus (Long-Tailed Skipper) · U. proteus proteus · U. protillus · U. purpurata · U. rauterbergi · U. reductus · U. retractus · U. rica · U. santiago · U. simplicius (Plain Longtail) · U. takuta · U. tanna (Tanna Longtail) · U. teleus (Teleus Longtail) · U. tenuis · U. thiemei · U. thraso · U. torones · U. trebia · U. triptolemus · U. undulatus · U. velinus · U. virescens · U. viridis · U. viterboana (Bluish Longtail) · U. zagorus · U. zalanthus

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 26, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=19&sci=Hesperiidae&com=Skippers [back]
  2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Thessia&search=Search [back]
Last Revised: 7/2/2009