The Southern Broken Dash (Wallengrenia otho) is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Hesperiidae family. It is found from eastern Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and the south-eastern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, south through the West Indies and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 to Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. Strays can be found as far north as central Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, northern Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 and Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 24-35 mm. Adults are on wing from April to October in two generations (sometimes a partial third) in most of North America. In peninsular Florida and southern Texas, adults are on wing all year round.

The larvae feed on Paspalum

Paspalum

Paspalum is a genus of the grass family . Commonly known as paspalums, bahiagrasses or dallis grasses most are tall perennial American grasses. They are most diverse in subtropical and tropical regions....

species and Stenotaphrum secundatum. Adults feed on the nectar from flowers including Pickerelweed, Selfheal and Sweet pepperbush.

Subspecies

• Wallengrenia otho otho (Georgia to Mexico and Brazil (Amazonas))
• Wallengrenia otho drury (Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico)
• Wallengrenia otho clavus (Mexico to Brazil, Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela)
• Wallengrenia otho misera (Cuba, Bahamas, Honduras)
• Wallengrenia otho ophites (Antilles, Dominica)
• Wallengrenia otho vesuria (Jamaica)
• Wallengrenia otho sapuca (Paraguay)

External links

• Butterflies and Moths of North America