Hesperia, the branded skippers, is a Holarctic genus in the skippers (Hesperiidae) butterfly family. Most species are endemic to North America, Hesperia comma is widespread throughout the region. H. florinda is endemic to temperate eastern Asia. H. nabokovi is endemic to Hispaniola.
Presumably, Johan Christian Fabricius named the genus for Hesperia, one of the Hesperides.
Species The following species are recognised in the genus Hesperia: Hesperia assiniboia (Lyman, 1892) – Plains skipper Hesperia attalus (W. H. Edwards, 1871) – dotted skipper – south United States Hesperia caucasica Riabov, 1926 Caucasus Hesperia colorado (Scudder, 1874) – western branded skipper Hesperia columbia (Scudder, 1872) – Columbian skipper – California to Southwest Oregon Hesperia comma (Linnaeus, 1758) – silver-spotted skipper or common branded skipper Hesperia dacotae (Skinner, 1911) – Dakota skipper Hesperia florinda (Butler, 1878) Hesperia juba (Scudder, 1872) – Juba skipper Hesperia leonardus (Harris, 1862) – Leonard's skipper Hesperia lindseyi (Holland, 1930) – Lindsey's skipper – Southwest Oregon, California, Southwest Arizona Hesperia meskei W. H. Edwards, 1877 – Meke's skipper, Dixie skipper – Texas to Florida Hesperia metea Scudder, 1863 – cobweb skipper Hesperia miriamae MacNeill, 1959 – Sierra skipper – Inyo County, California Hesperia nabokovi (Bell & Comstock, 1948) Hispaniola Hesperia nevada (Scudder, 1874) – Nevada skipper Hesperia ottoe W. H. Edwards, 1866 – Ottoe skipper Hesperia pahaska Luessler, 1938 – Pahaska skipper Hesperia sassacus Harris, 1862 – Indian skipper Hesperia uncas W. H. Edwards, 1863 – Uncas skipper Hesperia viridis (W. H. Edwards, 1883) – green skipper – Mexico, New Mexico Hesperia woodgatei (R. C. Williams, 1914) – Apache skipper – Arizona, New Mexico, South Texas, North Mexico
Former species Many species originally described in the genus Hesperia have now been reclassified. For a list of selected former species see List of former species in the genus Hesperia.
References
External links
Images representing Hesperia at Consortium for the Barcode of Life Systematic list of the butterflies of Norway Juba Skipper page Jeff's Butterfly Page Checklist of Butterflies of Tulare County University of Colorado Museum Gatrelle R. A subspecific assessment of the genus Hesperi (Hesperiinae) in eastern north America (Part I: The south) Butterflies and Skippers of North America Standardized Common North American Butterfly names TC-ISBN Main List Hesperia from Markku Savela's Lepidoptera site. Lyman Entomological Museum and Research Laboratory