Phocides pigmalion, the mangrove skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in the United States from coast to coast in peninsular Florida and the Florida Keys, south through the West Indies and Mexico to Argentina. Strays may be found up to coastal South Carolina.

Phocides pigmalion
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Phocides
Species:
P. pigmalion
Binomial name
Phocides pigmalion
(Cramer, [1779])
Synonyms
List
  • Papilio pigmalion Cramer, [1779]
  • Erycides pigmalion (Cramer, [1779])
  • Phocides disparilis Röber, 1925
  • Phocides iocularis Röber, 1925
  • Phocides vulcanides Röber, 1925
  • Phocides tenuistriga Mabille & Boullet, 1912
  • Sphinx bicolora Boddaert, 1783
  • Erycides pyres Godman & Salvin, 1879
  • Eudamus batabano Lucas, 1857
  • Erycides mancinus Herrich-Schäffer, 1862
  • Erycides batabano Lefèbre, 1867
  • Phocides aberrans Röber, 1925
  • Phocides jemadides Röber, 1925

The wingspan is 48–70 mm. Adults are on the wing from November to August in southern Florida.

The larvae feed on Rhizophora mangle species. Adults feed on nectar of various plants, including mangrove, shepherd's needle, citrus, and bougainvillaea flowers.

Subspecies edit

  • Phocides pigmalion pigmalion (Surinam, Colombia, Peru, Brazil)
  • Phocides pigmalion bicolora (Haiti)
  • Phocides pigmalion batabano (Cuba, tropical America)
  • Phocides pigmalion okeechobee (Florida)
  • Pocides pigmalion hewitsonius (Brazil (Amazonas), Peru, Bolivia)
  • Phocides pigmalion batabanoides (Bahamas)

External links edit