Euphyes dion

Euphyes dion, the Dion skipper or Alabama skipper, is a species of butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in scattered populations along the Atlantic coast of North America, from western Massachusetts and south-eastern New York south to north-eastern Florida, west to north-eastern Texas, and north to south-eastern North Dakota, northern Wisconsin, southern Ontario and southern Quebec. It is listed as a species of special concern in the US state of Connecticut.^[2]

Euphyes dion
Euphyes dion dion
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Genus:	Euphyes
Species:	E. dion
Binomial name
Euphyes dion (W.H. Edwards, 1879)
Synonyms
Pamphila dion W.H. Edwards, 1879 Euphyes macquirei Freeman, 1975 Limochroes dion (W.H. Edwards, 1879) Atrytone dion (W.H. Edwards, 1879)

The wingspan is 37–45 mm. There is one generation with adults on wing from July to early August in the north and two generations with adults on wing from May to September in the south.

The larvae feed on various sedges, including Scirpus cyperinus, Carex lacustris and Carex hyalinolepis. Adults feed on nectar from various flowers including pickerelweed, sneezeweed, buttonbush and Alsike clover, among others.^[3]

Subspecies

• Euphyes dion dion
• Euphyes dion alabamae (Lindsey, 1923)

Gallery

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  Euphyes dion alabamae