Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site
Monitoring butterfly populations across Central California for more than 35 years… Lerodea eufala
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).
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