''Polites rhesus'', the Rhesus skipper or plains gray skipper,
funet.fi 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 ...
in the family Hesperiidae. It is found in North America from Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
to North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
, as far north, but infrequently, as Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
and Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
.[
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 25–30 mm.[Rhesus Skipper]
Butterflies of Canada
There is one generation in May and June.[ Its habitats include short-grass and mixed grass prairie.][ Adults feed on nectar from flowers including Drummond's milkvetch ('' Astragalus drummondii'').]
References
External links
Rhesus Skipper
Butterflies and Moths of North America
Butterflies of North America
Polites (butterfly)
Butterflies described in 1876
Taxa named by William Henry Edwards
{{Hesperiinae-stub