Image of Wild Indigo Duskywing

Description:

Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae) - female 16 April 2016 Ray Roberts Lake State Park - Johnson Valley View, Cooke County, Texas Note: With many thanks for the prompt and accurate ID provided by Dr. Cliff Ivy, Contributing Editor, BugGuide, Department of Entomology, Iowa State University. The BugGuide ID may be accessed here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1211761 This observation of Wild Indigo Duskywing is rare in Texas. On iNaturalist the existing observations of Wild Indigo Duskywing have been made in a total of 14 states and with our own observation being made in Texas close to the Oklahoma border, this makes 15 states. These are the states where Wild Indigo Duskywing has been reported (and vetted) on iNaturalist in the United States (listed in alphabetical order): Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia. The observation made and vetted for Oklahoma six days ago on iNaturalist was the most southern observation (closest to our location) to date until our own was vetted by contributing editor Cliff Ivy on BugGuide today. So our own observation for Wild Indigo Duskywing is one of the most southern observations for this species posted and vetted on iNaturalist to date (thanks to Nick Block). There was another observation made in Dallas, Texas, three years earlier for Wild Indigo Duskywing but this observation remains to be vetted and may be accessed here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/332466 . The short of it is that this particular butterfly doesn’t fly often as far south as Texas and we were fortunate to experience it if only briefly. But we did snap three pics before it flew off and these are presented as part of this observation. Wild Indigo Duskywing generally flies in the eastern half of the United States and Canada as reported by the range map on BugGuide (which is determined on the basis of observations made to that site). Since 2012, at least three observations of Wild Indigo Duskywing have been reported and confirmed by BugGuide for Texas including our own observation of it this past weekend. The three vetted observations were made respectively in Cooke, Dallas and Williamson counties and that information may be accessed here: http://bugguide.net/adv_search/bgsearch.php?taxon=20837&location[]=TX Our own observation is the first confirmed for Cooke County, Texas, and because it was made at the Ray Roberts Lake State Park – Johnson, it is the first such confirmation on BugGuide and iNaturalist combined to be made at a public state park in Texas (based on available public online records as indicated). The particular Wild Indigo Duskywing we observed and documented was nectaring on Common Vetch along with other butterflies. Far more common is this skipper species in states like Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Massachusetts based on the extant iNaturalist record. North Texans should be keeping an eye out for Wild Indigo Duskywing this flight season which according to the BugGuide record for Texas extends from April to August with our own observation being the earliest one reported to BugGuide and/or iNaturalist to date. According to BugGuide’s brief description of it, this species has been “rapidly expanding its range and abundance by colonizing plantings of crown vetch along roadways and railroad beds.” As indicated, its flight season lasts from “late April to early June and again from July to August. There are two generations per year.” Because of its broad indigenous presence in North America, Wild Indigo Duskywing is an authentic resident of the Western Hemisphere. Ray Roberts Lake State Park – Johnson, is administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Here’s the classification for Wild Indigo Duskywing provided on BugGuide: Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals) Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) Class Insecta (Insects) Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths) Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies and Skippers) Family Hesperiidae (Skippers) Subfamily Pyrginae (Spread-wing Skippers) Genus Erynnis (Duskywings) Species baptisiae (Wild Indigo Duskywing) Source: “Species Erynnis baptisiae - Wild Indigo Duskywing,” BugGuide, Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, range map, photographs, description, resources, accessed 4.17.16, http://bugguide.net/node/view/20837