Butterflies of
North America
Southern
Broken Dash
Wallengrenia otho
SMITH, 1797
Family -
HESPERIIDAE
subfamily -
HESPERIINAE
Tribe
-
Wallengrenia otho, Tennessee, USA ©
Ken Childs
Introduction
The genus
Wallengrenia comprises of 7 species,
of which two - otho and
egeremet, occur in North America. The
other species are premnas from South
America; misera from Cuba and the
northern Bahamas; drury from the
southern Bahamas, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico;
vesuria from Jamaica, and
ophites from Trinidad and the Lesser
Antilles.
W. otho and
egeremet are very similar in appearance and can only
reliably be distinguished from each other by dissecting and
microscopically examining the male genitalia. Generally however
the underside wings of otho tend to
be reddish-brown or orange-brown in colour, whereas
egeremet has a more neutral brown
hue.
Wallengria otho is found in the
south-eastern states of the USA. It's range overlaps with the more
northern species egeremet.
Habitats
This species is
found in open woodland habitats and swamps, at altitudes between
sea level and about 200m.
Lifecycle
The larvae feed
nocturnally on grasses including Digitaria
and Paspalum.
Adult behaviour
Both sexes
visit flowers for nectar. Males however are more commonly
seen imbibing moisture from mud. They perch on low vegetation on
forest edge habitats, using these places as vantage points from
which to survey and intercept passing females.
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