Sickle-winged Skipper (Achlyodes tamenund [W. H. Edwards])
Wing span: 1 3/8 - 1 3/4 inches (3.5 - 4.5 cm).
Identification: Forewing is pointed, with a shallow indentation below the apex. Upperside of male is dark brown with a purple sheen and pale brown spots; female is brown with bands of square blue-gray or olive-gray spots.
Life history: Adults rest under or on top of leaves. Females deposit eggs singly on the top of host plant leaves, which the caterpillars eat. Caterpillars rest in nests of silked-together leaves.
Flight: Many flights all year in South Texas; most common from August-November.
Caterpillar hosts: Trees in the citrus family (Rutaceae): prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum fagara) in Texas; Z. monophyllum and various Citrus species in tropical America.
Adult food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Openings and edges in tropical thorn forest and scrub; city gardens.
Range: Argentina north through tropical America and the West Indies to South Texas. A regular stray north to central Texas, rarely to Arkansas and Kansas.
