Skipper

Nascus solon corilla

Description:

An odd little Skipper, pale blue-grey on the underside with darker zig-zag markings, about 2.5 cm in length. The upper side is dark brown with white spots on the upper wings and a rusty brown on the lower wings with a hint of 2 slightly darker bands. It has tiny little tails no more than a few mm in length. There are scales of metallic blue on both sides of the wings, depending on the angle of light. It has a white ring around the eye. This is the male of the species. The female is larger with a complete diagonal white band on the upper wings (http://www.tropicleps.ch/bild.php?bild=0...). It has a distribution from southern Mexico through northern South America, mainly at higher elevations. By looking at the references, you can see that the different subspecies are also very different in coloration on the underside of the wings. The larva is very striking (https://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr/paginas-d...). Family Hesperiidae.

Habitat:

This landed on the wall in front of me on a downtown street. It must have come out of someone's interior garden. I brought it home to photograph and released it in a safer place.... in my own garden. San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico 2,200 meters.