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The Long Dash Skipper male is bright orange brown with a wide dark brown border. Its common name, Long Dash, is a result of the dark patch along the outer edge of the black stigma and a wide rectangular one near the wing tip, giving the stigma appear much longer and wider than it really is. The female is brown to brownish orange. Both sexes have a pale orange patch on the hind wing above crossed by the dark veins, and a curved band of pale spots on the underside, parallel to the outer margin of the wing. Their wing span is from 2.3 to 2.9 cm.
In Algonquin Highlands, you might find these skippers amongst the grasses and flowers (like Cow Vetch) found in moist areas such as marshes, meadows, and stream sides, or even along roadside. Adults feed on nectar; females laying their eggs on or near grasses, such as Blue Grass, Quack or Timothy. The larva is greenish brown or dark brown with white mottling and a darker stripe lengthwise along its back.
You may see them from late May to early August. These butterflies, when they are resting, have their forewings partially open and their hind wings fully open.
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LONG DASH SKIPPER
Polites mystic
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