Milestones
Biodiversity Profile: Dakota Skipper
Formerly widespread on native prairie landscapes, populations of Dakota skipper have become fragmented through habitat loss. The larvae construct complex silken shelters at the base of prairie-dwelling bunchgrass species and forage for food at night, cutting blades of grass and returning to their shelter to feed. The position of the shelters at or near the soil surface makes fragmented populations of the species particularly vulnerable to overland flooding during spring flood events. (Photo: ©Bryan E. Reynolds http:///www.botwf.org.)
- Scientific name
- Hesperia dacotae
- Status
- Globally imperiled (G2), and critically imperiled (S1) at the extremes of its range; there are apparently fewer than 150 extant populations. A former landscape-level species now reduced to fragments, its total decline since 1850 is about 99.9%.
- Historic Range
- Northern prairies, from Illinois to Saskatchewan. Undoubtedly originally occurred as metapopulations on native prairie landscapes.
- Habitat
- Restricted to unplowed native prairie on dry to mesic calcareous gravelly soils; can occur in moderately grazed prairie pastures. Presence of mountain deathcamas (Zigadenus elegans) is a good habitat indicator.
- Migration
- Adults are strong fliers but apparently rarely disperse between habitat patches due to large distances between them.
- Phenology Hibernation is just below the soil surface near the base of foodplants. Adults occur in June—July, larvae occur nearly the entire year.
- Source
- NatureServe Explorer