BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Euphyes vestris
Dun Skipper
| Scientific Name: | Euphyes vestris (Boisduval, 1852) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Dun Skipper | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Pelham, J. P. 2008. A catalogue of the butterflies of the United States and Canada with a complete bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. Volume 40. 658 pp. Revised 14 February, 2012. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Invertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | LE-EUPVES | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Dec 2020) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S2S3 (Feb 2020) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Blue | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | Threatened (Apr 2013) | ||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | 1 - Threatened (Jun 2003) | ||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 6 - Not Assessed (2000) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / N / na / |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Obligate
Other Unique Habitats / Vernal Pools/Seasonal Seeps / Facultative - frequent use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Not nearly as strongly associated with wetlands as most Euphyes and also strays a lot, so habitat is hard to characterize. Certainly does use low moist spots in fields, meadows, right of ways, etc. that would not qualify as palustrine. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Herbivore:Immature
Nectarivore: Adult |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Caterpillar Hosts: Various sedges including chufa flatsedge (Cyperus esculentus) and sun sedge (Carex heliophila). Adult Food: Nectar from white, pink, or purple flowers including common milkweed, purple vetch, self-heal, peppermint, dogbane, New Jersey-tea, and viper's bugloss (Lotts and Naberhaus 2017). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | / / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | This is a widespread species, ranging from Nova Scotia west across southern Canada to British Columbia and south to Florida, the Gulf Coast, eastern Texas, and northern Mexico (Guppy and Shepard 2001, iNaturalist 2020). Separate populations in the high plains and Rocky Mountains, and on the Pacific Coast (Lotts and Naberhaus 2019). There are four described subspecies: E. v. metacomet is found throughout the eastern United States and southeastern Canada; E. v. vestris is found in the western coastal states and southern British Columbia; E. v. kiowah is found in the Rocky Mountains, and E. v. harbisoni is restricted to southern California, US. |
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| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | May 08, 2001 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
B.C. Ministry of Environment. Recovery Planning in BC. B.C. Minist. Environ. Victoria, BC. |
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Baron, N., and F. Backhouse. 1999. Rare Butterflies of Southeastern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 6pp. |
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Guppy, C.S., and J.H. Shepard. 2001. Butterflies of British Columbia. UBC Press in collaboration with Royal B.C. Mus. 414pp. |
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Shepard, J.H. 2000. Status of Five Butterflies and Skippers in British Columbia. B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. Working Rep. WR-101. 27pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2001. Species Summary: Euphyes vestris. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 16, 2026).