Burnsius albezens, the white checkered-skipper, formerly known as Burnsius albescens and Pyrgus albescens, is a species of skipper (family Hesperiidae). It is found at low altitudes in the southern United States (southern California, southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, western and southern Texas, Florida) and Mexico. It is a rare stray to southwest Utah and central Texas and is found in a variety of dry, open habitats.[1][2]

White checkered-skipper
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Subfamily: Pyrginae
Tribe: Pyrgini
Genus: Burnsius
Species:
B. albezens
Binomial name
Burnsius albezens
Grishin, 2022
Synonyms
  • Burnsius albescens (Plötz, 1884)
  • Pyrgus albescens Plötz, 1884

The wingspan is 25–38 mm. Adults are on wing year round in most of its range.

The larva probably feed on several plants in the family Malvaceae, including Sphaeralcea, Abutilon and Callirhoe. Adults feed on the nectar of a variety of plants.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Zhang, J; Cong, Q; Burns, JM; Grishin, NV (2022). "Checking the checkered taxonomy of Plötz's checkered skippers (Hesperiidae: Pyrgini)". Taxon Rep Int Lepid Surv. 10 (5). doi:10.5281/zenodo.6510282. PMC 9076161. PMID 35530660.
  2. ^ a b "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org.
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