''Hesperia colorado'', the western branded skipper, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the 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 from in Eurasia and north-western Africa, coast to coast in North America in boreal and subalpine areas south as far as

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, hence the Latin name.Common Branded Skipper
Butterflies of Canada 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 22–30 mm. The flight period is from late June to mid-August in western North America and from late July to early September in eastern North America. The larvae feed on species of ''

Muhlenbergia ''Muhlenbergia'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The genus is named in honor of the German-American amateur botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815). Many of the species are known by the common name muhly. The greatest ...

'', '' Stipa'', ''

Andropogon ''Andropogon'' ( common names: beard grass, bluestem grass, broomsedge) is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to much of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as southern Europe and various oceanic islands. Over 100 spec ...

'', and ''

Lolium ''Lolium'' is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae). It is often called ryegrass, but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera. They are characterized by bunch-like growth habits. ''Lolium'' is ...

''.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:''Hesperia''
funet.fi *''H. c. colorado'' (Scudder, 1874) *''H. c. dodgei'' (Bell, 1927) – Dodge's branded skipper *''H. c. harpalus'' (Edwards, 1881) – Idaho branded skipper, Yosemite branded skipper *''H. c. idaho'' (Edwards, 1883) *''H. c. leussleri'' Lindsey, 1940 – Leussler's branded skipper *''H. c. mattoonorum'' McGuire, 1998 *''H. c. mojavensis'' Austin & McGuire, 1998 – Mojave branded skipper *''H. c. ochracea'' Lindsey, 1941 – ochre branded skipper *''H. c. oregonia'' (Edwards, 1883) – Oregon branded skipper *''H. c. oroplata'' Scott, 1981 *''H. c. susanae'' Miller, 1962 – Susan's branded skipper *''H. c. tildeni'' Freeman, 1956 – Tilden's branded skipper

References

External links

Western Branded Skipper
Butterflies and Moths of North America Hesperia (butterfly) Butterflies described in 1874 Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Samuel Hubbard Scudder {{Hesperiini-stub