[TN-Butterflies] checkered skipper in Knox Co
- From: Rikki Hall <sourpersimmon@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: TN-Butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 01:12:39 -0400
Twice this year I have seen a checkered skipper while working in a garden.
Both times it was active and moved on before I had a chance for a good look,
but maybe next time! My presumption is these were common checkered skippers,
but I'm not sure I'd be able to make an ID with even a good look.
There is an introduced Eurasian mallow that grows as a weed in this garden (
*Hibiscus trionum*, on many states' noxious weeds lists). This garden is the
only place I've seen this mallow and the only place locally I've seen a
checkered skipper, possibly not a coincidence. I'm wondering whether the
relative scarcity of checkered skippers in Eastern Tenn. is related to the
scarcity of mallows in the local flora. The Audubon butterfly guide
describes *Pyrgus communis* as a candidate for "the most common skipper in
North America," which seems daft from a E. TN perspective. A look at the
invasive mallow's
distribution<http://herbaria4.herb.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_bonap_map.pl?bonap_name=Hibiscus%20trionum>suggests
that it is fairly common in and around Midwestern and rust-belt
cities, so maybe *communis* is benefiting from *trionum*'s colonization of
vacant lots and weedy fields in developed areas and from decorative
plantings of other Hibiscus species and is actually a better candidate for
"most cosmopolitan skipper."
Rikki Hall
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