''Wallengrenia otho'', the southern broken dash or broken dash 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 was originally described by Smith in 1797. It is found from eastern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

, 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 Greater A ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Strays can be found as far north as central

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, northern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. 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 24–35 mm. Adults are on wing from April to October in two generations (sometimes a partial third) in most of North America. In peninsular Florida and southern Texas, adults are on wing all year round. The larvae feed on ''

Paspalum ''Paspalum'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The group is widespread across much of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Commonly known as paspalum, bahiagrasses, crowngrasses or dallis grasses, many of the species are tall pere ...

'' species and ''

Stenotaphrum secundatum St. Augustine grass (''Stenotaphrum secundatum''), also known as buffalo turf in Australia and buffalo grass in South Africa, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is a warm-season lawn grass that is popular for cultivation in tropica ...

''. Adults feed on the nectar from 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 ...

selfheal ''Prunella'' is a genus of herbaceous plants in the family Lamiaceae, also known as self-heals, heal-all, or allheal for their use in herbal medicine. Habitat Most are native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but ''Prunella vulgaris'' (common ...

and

sweet pepperbush ''Clethra'' is a genus of flowering shrubs or small trees described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753.Wallengrenia egeremet ''Wallengrenia egeremet'', the northern broken dash , is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in North America from southern Maine and southern Ontario, west across the Great Lakes states to southeastern North Dakota, south to centr ...

is a subspecies of ''W. otho''. *''Wallengrenia otho otho'' (Georgia to Mexico and Brazil (Amazonas)) *''Wallengrenia otho drury'' (Latreille,

824 __NOTOC__ Year 824 ( DCCCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * November 11 – The '' Constitutio Romana'' establishes the authority of the ...

(Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico) *''Wallengrenia otho clavus'' (Erichson, 1848) (Mexico to Brazil, Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela) *''Wallengrenia otho misera'' (Lucas, 1857) (Cuba, Bahamas, Honduras) *''Wallengrenia otho ophites'' (Mabille, 1878) (Antilles, Dominica) *''Wallengrenia otho vesuria'' (Plötz, 1882) (Jamaica) *''Wallengrenia otho sapuca'' Evans, 1955 (Paraguay)

References

External links

Butterflies and Moths of North America
Hesperiini Butterflies of Central America Butterflies of the Caribbean Butterflies of North America Hesperiidae of South America Butterflies of Cuba Lepidoptera of Argentina Lepidoptera of Brazil Lepidoptera of Jamaica Insects of Antigua and Barbuda Insects of Puerto Rico Insects of the Dominican Republic Fauna of the Southeastern United States Butterflies described in 1797 {{Hesperiini-stub