Skipper ID help

ronald huber huber033 at umn.edu
Fri Sep 19 12:26:51 EDT 2008


Tom,
Sorry for the tardy reply.  Your photo looks very much like Euphyes vestris 
metacomet (there are several records for the east-west running Ash River 
Trail just S of Lake Kabetogama).  It also brings to mind Wallengrenia 
egeremet, but Wallengrenia antennae are very short (shaft, not counting 
club, is just barely longer than the width of the head) and the antennae in 
your picture appear to be at least 1.5 times the head width.  One other 
remote possibility is the small, dark boreal form of Polites themistocles, 
that we get in NE Minn.  The females sometimes almost completely lack the 
dull orange color along the costal margin.  It is single-brooded up there 
and
I have often wondered if it could be the Massachusetts thing that T.W. 
Harris named ahaton back in 1866 ?  Hopefully his type will still exist in 
MCZ-Harvard. It is
also similar to turneri H.A. Freeman (1944) from British Columbia.  In any 
event, the boreal form of  "themistocles" has somewhat larger spots on the 
forewing and the spots are not as pale (more ochraceous).  With just the 
photo to go on, I would guess E. vestris metacomet (that's why I carry a net 
!).
Cheers,
Ron

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Middagh" <trgarden at frontiernet.net>
To: <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 8:46 AM
Subject: Skipper ID help


> Here is a couple skippers I would like to have some help with the ID.
>
> Data: along the roadside at Lake Kabetogama, far north St. Louis county,
> Minnesota USA
>
> http://www.frontiernet.net/~trgarden/TomMidda/skippers.jpg
>
>
> I am thinking Euphyes vestris metacomet
>
> Thanks
> Tom Middagh
>
>
>
>
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