Huron sachem

Description

Huron sachem is a common, medium-sized, late season, migratory skipper. It occurs in the United States from the Great Plains to the East Coast, in the desert southwest, and west of the Rocky Mountains, and in Mexico, Central America, and Columbia. It is one of just a few skippers that migrate north each year. It appears in Minnesota usually in late summer but sometimes as early as late June or early July. It does not survive the winter. It does not appear in the state every year, and it rarely migrates as far as southern Canada. However, evidence suggests that sachem’s range is gradually extending northward as the climate warms.

Huron sachem is found in woodlands, dry grasslands, pastures, parks, gardens, weedy lawns, old fields, power line clearings, railroads, roadsides, and other disturbed areas. Larvae feed on various grasses. In Minnesota, these include crabgrass, Indian goosegrass, and red fescue. In other areas larvae also feed on Bermuda grass and St. Augustine grass. Adults feed on a wide variety of flowers.

Adults have a 1¼″ to 1⅝″ (32 to 42 mm) wingspan. The female is larger than the male.

On the male the upper side of the forewing is yellowish-orange with a broad brown border on the outer margin. Near the middle of the wing there is a large, rectangular patch of black, specialized, scent scales (stigma). As with many skippers, there is also a row of three small pale spots, the “wrist bracelet”, near the leading edge (costal margin) in the subapical area. On the female the base color is variable, from light brownish-yellow to dark yellowish-brown. There is a brown border on the costal margin, a smaller stigma, two large, squarish, glassy spots near the center, and two isolated pale spots near the outer margin.

On the male the upper side of the hindwing is brown with a large, diffuse, orange patch on the inner half crossed by dark veins. On the female the orange patch is more distinct.

The base color of the underside of the hindwing on both sexes is variable, from light brownish-yellow to dark yellowish-brown. On the male it is usually brownish-yellow with yellowish-brown on the outer margin and a yellowish-brown spot on the inner margin near the middle. On the female it is usually yellowish-brown with a distinct, chevron-shaped row of pale rectangular spots.

Size

Wingspan: 1¼″ to 1⅝″ (32 to 45 mm)

Similar Species

Habitat

Woodlands, dry grasslands, old fields, parks, gardens, weedy lawns, roadsides, and other disturbed areas

Ecology

Season

Late June to late September in Minnesota. Usually one generation per year. If it arrives early, there may be a second generation.

Behavior

The caterpillar creates a shelter of rolled leaves tied with silken threads near the base of the grass plant. It leaves the shelter to cut a piece of grass blade, returns with the cutting, and feeds in the shelter.

Life Cycle

The female lays a single, small, white egg on a blade of a host species of grass.

Larva Food/Hosts

Grasses, including crabgrass, Indian goosegrass, and red fescue

Adult Food

Nectar from many flowers