''Burnsius oileus'', the tropical checkered skipper, is a species of skipper (family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

). It is found in the United States (Peninsular

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, the Gulf Coast, and southern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

), south through the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica. It was transferred to genus ''

Burnsius ''Burnsius'' is a genus of New World checkered-skippers in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. The genus was erected by Nick V. Grishin in 2019. There are about 12 described species in ''Burnsius''. As a result of a 2019 study of the genomes of 2 ...

'' in 2019, and was previously known as ''Pyrgus oileus''. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 32–38 mm. There are four to five generations throughout the year in southern Texas and Florida. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e feed on several plants in the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

, including ''

Sida rhombifolia ''Sida rhombifolia'', commonly known as arrowleaf sida, is a perennial or sometimes annual plant in the Family Malvaceae, native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Other common names include rhombus-leaved sida, Paddy's lucerne, jelly le ...

'', ''

Malva ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temper ...

'', '' Althaea rosea'', ''

Abutilon ''Abutilon'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics Malvastrum ''Malvastrum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. Its native range is the New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ...

''. Adults feed on the nectar of the flowers of '' Sidas'' species and small-flowered composites such as shepherd's needles.

Subspecies

*''Burnsius oileus oileus'' *''Burnsius oileus syrichtus''

References

External links

Butterflies and Moths of North America
Pyrgini Butterflies of the Caribbean Butterflies of Central America Butterflies of North America Hesperiidae of South America Lepidoptera of Colombia Butterflies of Jamaica Butterflies of Trinidad and Tobago Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Butterflies described in 1767 {{Pyrginae-stub