''Phocides pigmalion'', the mangrove skipper, is a

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

of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in the United States from coast to coast in 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 ...

and the Florida Keys, 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 Greate ...

and Mexico to Argentina. Strays may be found up to coastal

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. 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 o ...

is 48–70 mm. Adults are on the wing from November to August in southern Florida. The larvae feed on ''

Rhizophora mangle ''Rhizophora mangle'', the red mangrove, is distributed in estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics. Its viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. These are disperse ...

'' species. Adults feed on nectar of various plants, including

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

, shepherd's needle,

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

, and bougainvillaea flowers.

Subspecies

* ''Phocides pigmalion pigmalion'' (Surinam, Colombia, Peru, Brazil) * ''Phocides pigmalion bicolora'' (Haiti) * ''Phocides pigmalion batabano'' (Cuba, tropical America) * ''Phocides pigmalion okeechobee'' (Florida) * ''Pocides pigmalion hewitsonius'' (Brazil (Amazonas), Peru, Bolivia) * ''Phocides pigmalion batabanoides'' (Bahamas)

External links

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Mangrove Skipper - Florida Wildflower Foundation
Eudaminae Butterflies described in 1779 Hesperiidae of South America {{Hesperiidae-stub