Duke's Skipper - The Butterfiles - ERCA Traditional Cache

This series "The Butterfiles" will highlight some of the butterflies you will see along the green way the ones marked with an * are rare/imperilled in the region so if you see them please take note of where and report to ERCA or Ojibway park. Be prepared to do some bush whacking to claim the find.

The upperside is sooty black in life, fading to very dark brown after death. In the male, the upperside is unmarked except for the black stigma; the female has several pale-yellowish spots on the forewing and a larger blurred orange area on the hindwing. The hindwing underside is pale brown with a long yellowish streak. Wingspan: 31 to 37 mm.

Abundance: This species is uncommon and very local throughout its entire range.

Flight Season: In southern Ontario dukesi flies from early July to mid-August, with a second generation recorded once at Point Pelee in early September.

Habits: The species is restricted in habitat to marshy areas with long grasses and patches of the foodplants, usually in partially shaded woodlands or adjacent to woods. It is never found in open marshes like most other sedge skippers. It has been seen twice in Essex County in dry ditches containing Carex hyalinolepis. It was first recorded in Canada by Anthony Holmes on 11 July 1968.