Hesperiidae : Pyrginae

Burnsius oileus (Linnaeus, 1767)
Tropical Checkered Skipper
Picture
Burnsius oileus male 27 Feb 2014 Zapata © Tim Norriss
Description and Similar Species: Wingspan 30-36mm. Previously known as Pyrgus oileus but recent research by Nick Griffin has now placed it in the genus Burnsius. This is the larger of the two black and white checkered skippers with no overlap in size. The base colour of P. oileus is black with irregular-sized angular white marks. Males have many white hair-scales covering the basal area of the upperwings giving a very grey appearance especially when fresh whilst females have dark brown hair-scales giving them a much darker appearance. In the superficially similar Antillean Checkered Skipper Burnsius crisia both sexes have upperwings with a blackish background and smaller more evenly sized white dots. Confusion between females of the two species is a commonly made mistake but note that B. crisia has a single row of white dots near the trailing edge of the hindwing whereas B. oileus has two rows.
Range: Found throughout the Caribbean islands and from southern USA to Argentina in South America.
Status: Common throughout Cuba
Nectar Plants: Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, Blechum brownei, Bidens pilosa amongst others.
Larval Foodplants: Various species of Malvaceae including Sida rhombifolia, Sida spinosa and Sida acuta.
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Larva
Foodplants and Habitat