Hesperia colorado

Western branded skipper
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
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 western 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.

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.

The larvae feed on species of Muhlenbergia, Stipa, Andropogon, and Lolium.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:

• H. c. colorado (Scudder, 1874)
• 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. leussleri Lindsey, 1940 – Leussler's branded skipper
• H. c. mattoonorum McGuire, 1998
• H. c. mojavensis Austin & McGuire, 1998 – Mojave branded skipper
• H. c. ochracea Lindsey, 1941 – ochre branded skipper
• H. c. oregonia (Edwards, 1883) – Oregon branded skipper
• H. c. oroplata Scott, 1981
• H. c. susanae Miller, 1962 – Susan's branded skipper
• H. c. tildeni Freeman, 1956 – Tilden's branded skipper

External links

• Western Branded Skipper, Butterflies and Moths of North America