Stats

Lifespan: A few weeks
Size: Small
Diet: Herbivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

The Sachem is one of the most widespread skippers in North America, thriving in sunny open spaces from suburban lawns to roadsides. Males bear a bold jet-black stigma — an androconial scent patch used in courtship — on each tawny forewing, while females are so heavily checkered in brown and cream that the two sexes barely resemble each other.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
2.
caterpillar
A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
3.
chrysalis
A chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
4.
butterfly
A winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Atalopedes
Species: Atalopedes huron