''Oarisma garita'', the Garita skipperling, western skipperling or Garita skipper, is a North American

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 ...

in 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 ...

(skippers), 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 ...

(grass skippers). This skipper ranges southeastern

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and south through the American

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

as far south as

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 ...

. Its habitats include dry or moist prairies, open woodlands, and limestone outcrops.

Description

Colored orange brown on the upperside. The underside of the forewings are also orange but hindwings are dark gray with orange inner margins and gray-white veins. Wingspan is from 20 to 25 mm.Garita Skipperling
Butterflies of Canada

Behavior

Flies from mid-June through mid-July. Larvae feed on ''

Sitanion ''Elymus'' is a genus of perennial plants with approximately 150 species in the grass family, related to rye, wheat, and other widely grown cereal grains. ''Elymus'' is a cosmopolitan genus, represented by species across all continents of the ...

'', '' Blephanoneuron'', ''

Stipa ''Stipa'' is a genus of around 300 large perennial hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, which also contains many species form ...

'', ''

Poa ''Poa'' is a genus of about 570 species of grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass (mainly in Europe and Asia), bluegrass (mainly in North America), tussock (some New Zealand species), a ...

'' and ''

Bouteloua ''Bouteloua'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. Members of the genus are commonly known as grama grass. Taxonomy and systematics The genus was named for Claudio and Esteban Boutelou, 19th-century Spanish botanists. David Griffiths ...

''. Adults feed on flower nectar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oarisma garita Butterflies of North America