''Problema byssus'', the byssus skipper or bunchgrass skipper, is a
butterfly 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 along the Atlantic coastal plain of North America, from
North Carolina south to
Florida and the
Gulf States and from northern
Indiana west to
Iowa and south to
Missouri and
Kansas.
Butterflies and Moths of North America collecting and sharing data about Lepidoptera
/ref>
The wingspan is 37–46 mm. The upperside is bright yellow orange with black borders and a black bar at the end of the cell. The underside of the hindwings is dull yellow in males and rusty or orange in females. Both sexes have a band of pale spots. Adults feed on the nectar of various flowers, including pickerelweed
''Pontederia'' is a genus of tristylous aquatic plants, members of which are commonly known as pickerel weeds. ''Pontederia'' is endemic to the Americas, distributed from Canada to Argentina, where it is found in shallow water or on mud. The genu ...
.
The larvae feed on '' Tripsacum dactyloides''.
Subspecies
*''Problema byssus byssus''
*''Problema byssus kumskaka'' (Scudder, 1887)
References
Butterflies described in 1880
Hesperiini
Butterflies of North America
{{Hesperiini-stub