[Leps-l] Hesperiinae: video of unknown structure / behavior

[rcech at nyc.rr.com]

I  checked the male skipper shots from my book pictures (BF of the East
Coast) and saw that most spread males have similar 'hair-pencils.' As near
as I could tell from a quick review (most pix don't show point of
connection, they seem to emanate from the leading edge of the HW (but hard
to say, could be from the body nearby). So this isn't an aberration.

 

Rick

 

From: Leps-l <leps-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of
jeff at mineralmovies.com
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 4:37 PM
To: leps-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Leps-l] Hesperiinae: video of unknown structure / behavior

 

I was filming a Peck's skipper the other day, (Polites peckius) and saw
something that I had never seen before: some large black bristles jumped
into place when the (male) butterfly opened its wings.  You can see the
video here:

 <https://vimeo.com/423768722> https://vimeo.com/423768722

The butterfly was perching for quite a long time before this.  I did not
seen any female nearby.

I'm assuming this is some sort of hair-pencil, or male scent scales.  Does
anyone know anything about these in Hesperiinae?  Can you point me to any
references as to their function?  Does anyone know if some or all of the
Hesperiinae have these structures?  I have seen something about hair-pencils
on the tibia of some male skippers, but these scales seem to be from between
the fore and hind wings.

Would love to learn more!

Jeff Fast

 <http://www.MineralMovies.com> www.MineralMovies.com

(860) 985 - 6321

 

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