The giant skippers are butterflies in the disputed subfamily Megathyminae, which is part of the skipper family. Some authorities treat this as a distinct and separate subfamily, but more modern classifications tend to place them within the subfamily

Hesperiinae Grass skippers or banded skippers are butterflies of the subfamily Hesperiinae, part of the skipper family, Hesperiidae. The subfamily was established by Pierre André Latreille in 1809. Description and distribution With over 2,000 described sp ...

. However, some works, such as the

Integrated Taxonomic Information System The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

, still treat is as a valid subfamily. The giant skippers include two

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

, Aegialini and Megathymini. There are three genera and about eighteen species in this subfamily. These butterflies typically live in the southwest

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in desert areas.

Biology

The giant skippers are larger than the other members of the family Hesperiidae, but are medium-sized butterflies with thick bodies. They tend to be brown with yellow markings. The antennae are unhooked and some species even possess a short apiculus. Long hairlike scales are present on the upperwings of males. Their flight is fast and rapid. Males are territorial and tend to perch on low vegetation. Adults do not derive sustenance from flowers and rarely feed. Males do visit wet sand in order to drink. The eggs of members of the genera ''Megathymus'' and ''Stallingsia'' are glued to leaves, while the eggs of ''Agathymus'' are dumped into host plant clumps. The caterpillars of the giant skippers bury themselves into the leaf or stem of a plant and feed from within the silk-lined tunnels they create.

Pupae A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

are formed in these tunnels.

Genera

The subfamily includes the following genera: * ''

Agathymus ''Agathymus'' is a genus of butterflies in the skipper family, Hesperiidae. They occur in the North American deserts. The genus was described by Hugh Avery Freeman in 1959. The larvae bore into the stems of agave plants. These butterflies have ...

'' * '' Megathymus'' * '' Stallingsia''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21447462 Hesperiidae Megathyminae