Outis Skipper (Cogia outis [Skinner])
Wing span: 1 3/16 - 1 11/16 inches (3 - 4.3 cm).
Identification: Upperside is dull reddish brown; forewing has small white spots. Hindwing fringes are brown or tan; sometimes checkered.
Life history: Females deposit eggs singly under terminal leaves of the host plant. Caterpillars eat leaves and rest in shelters of silked-together leaves. Fully-grown caterpillars hibernate, and then pupate on the ground in a nest of leaves or underground in a silk-lined tunnel.
Flight: Four broods from March-October.
Caterpillar hosts: Various acacias in the pea family (Fabaceae).
Adult food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Parks, roadsides, hedgerows, thorn forest.
Range: Central Texas. Strays north to Oklahoma, southwest Missouri, and northwestern Arkansas; strays south to northern Chihuahua and Coahuila, Mexico.
