[TN-Butterflies] Golden Banded-Skipper

  • From: Rita Venable <ritavenable@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: TN-Butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:18:21 -0600

Hello, everyone,

This is for anyone who has seen the Golden Banded-Skipper in TN or anyone
who would like to comment. In writing the habitat description for this
species, since there are so few counties listed as having records, I want to
make sure that the habitats listed in field guides line up with what we are
seeing in the field in Tennessee.

I once saw this species in Lewis County on May 19, 2005 basking on 3’
vegetation overhanging a stream. My other sighting was on an open, weedy
hillside - they were nectaring on roadside thistle near a wooded area.

Please describe the habitat where you saw these skippers if you have time.
You do not have to reveal a location of this rare species if you don't want
to. Just a habitat description is fine. Thanks so much.

Rita Venable, Franklin, TN
Williamson Co.

Here's the run-down in a few of the field guides:

Wooded ravines with a stream or other water.[1] <#_ftn1> Moist, wooded areas
either along streams or wetlands. In southern West Virginia it is found
along trails or roads in steep, shaded hollows.[2] <#_ftn2> Lower Austral to
s Upper Austral Zone moist valley bottoms in woods in the east.[3]
<#_ftn3>They favor steep, moist woods near running water, probably to
exploit
hostplant concentrations…Mainly steep, moist woodland ravines or hollows,
with water nearby in areas with dappled light. Unglaciated areas in
OH.[4]<#_ftn4>In FL, uplands and wetlands. Moist hammocks and the
margins of swamps along
streams and rivers. Highly localized colonies in the Panhandle and
north-central FL.[5] <#_ftn5>

------------------------------

[1] <#_ftnref> Glassberg, Jeff. 1999. *Butterflies Through Binoculars*. P.
149.

[2] <#_ftnref> Allen, Thomas. *The Butterflies of West Virginia and Their
Caterpillars*. P. 186-87.

[3] <#_ftnref> Scott, James. *The Butterflies of North America*. P. 478.

[4] <#_ftnref> Cech, Rick and Guy Tudor. *Butterflies of the East Coast*. P.
236.

[5] <#_ftnref> Minno, Marc, Jerry Butler and Donald Hall.* Florida Butterfly
Caterpillars and Their Host Plants*. P. 127.

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