Common Name: Eufala Skipper
A nondescript, weedy
brown skipper with small white spots, a slightly grayish hindwing
underside, and an odd habit of shrugging its wings several times upon
alighting. Eufala ranges from our area to central Argentina and Chile. Its
status in northern California is unclear. Although there are records of strays
in the mountains, it basically is confined to the Central Valley and adjacent
foothills where it is rarely seen before June, increasing to maximum abundance
in autumn before disappearing around Thanksgiving. There is a handful of
widely-scattered April records. Does it overwinter successfully, or must it
recolonize from the south each year?
A species
of grassland, marshland, agricultural and waste ground, entering Valley riparian
forest. Occasional as an urban garden visitor. Rare in the Bay Area, however.
Host plants a variety of weedy, summer-annual (Echinochloa), summer-perennial
(Paspalum, Sorghum), turf (Bermuda Grass) and crop (Rice, Oryza
sativa) grasses. Adults visit a great many flowers, especially Yellow
Star-Thistle, Heliotrope, Lippia and Vetch (which they will pitch
up onto from below).