Hesperia colorado

American branded skipper
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Genus:	Hesperia
Species:	H. colorado
Binomial name
Hesperia colorado (Scudder, 1874)
Subspecies
See text
Synonyms
Erynnis comma colorado Dyar, 1903 Hesperia comma colorado

Hesperia colorado, the American branded skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae.

It is found from in Eurasia and north-western Africa, coast to coast in North America in boreal and subalpine areas south as far as Colorado, hence the Latin name. ^[1]

The wingspan is 22–30 mm. The flight period is from late June to mid-August in western North America and from late July to early September in eastern North America. ^[1]

The larvae feed on species of Muhlenbergia , Stipa , Andropogon , and Lolium . ^{[1] [2]}

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically: ^[2]

• H. c. colorado(Scudder, 1874) – western branded skipper
• H. c. dodgei(Bell, 1927) – Dodge's branded skipper
• H. c. harpalus(Edwards, 1881)– Idaho branded skipper, Yosemite branded skipper
• H. c. idaho(Edwards, 1883)
• H. c. leussleriLindsey, 1940 – Leussler's branded skipper
• H. c. mattoonorumMcGuire, 1998
• H. c. mojavensisAustin & McGuire, 1998 – Mojave branded skipper
• H. c. ochraceaLindsey, 1941 – ochre branded skipper
• H. c. oregonia(Edwards, 1883)– Oregon branded skipper
• H. c. oroplataScott, 1981
• H. c. susanaeMiller, 1962 – Susan's branded skipper
• H. c. tildeniFreeman, 1956 – Tilden's branded skipper

References

1. Common Branded Skipper, Butterflies of Canada
2. Hesperia, funet.fi

External links

• Western Branded Skipper, Butterflies and Moths of North America