Rhesus Skipper (Polites rhesus [W. H. Edwards])
Wing span: 1 - 1 1/4 inches (2.5 - 3.2 cm).
Identification: Fringes are white. Upperside is dark brown; male stigma is not apparent. Forewing spots are white; larger in the female. Underside of hindwing is greenish brown with white veins, a white band, and irregular dark spots.
Life history: To await receptive females, males perch on small mesas up to 6 feet high or on flats where there are no mesas. Females lay eggs singly on the host plants.
Flight: One brood from May-June.
Caterpillar hosts: Blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis).
Adult food: Nectar from flowers including Drummond's milkvetch (Astragalus drummondii).
Habitat: Native short-grass and mixed-grass prairie.
Range: Southern Manitoba south through the grasslands of Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Arizona, and New Mexico into northern Mexico.
