Windwolf
Crex Meadows Butterflies ... Mottled Duskywing Skipper
Mottled Duskywing
Erynnis martialis
The Mottled Duskywing skipper is not common in Wisconsin proper and is state ranked as S2 (imperiled in Wisconsin).
Burnett county hosts one of the consistanly high populations of Mottled Duskywings and Crex Meadows is a location where they can be found during their two flights.
The Mottled Duskywing on the right was my first encounter with Mottled Duskywings ever.
This individual was perching on the high point of a sand blow, but would not open its wings fully while I was there.
This first Mottled Duskywing was photographed August 6, 2008.
The photo below is of the same individual and show a side view of the Mottled Duskywing.
Wing span:
1 1/8 - 1 5/8 inches (2.9 - 4.2 cm).
Caterpillar hosts:
Wild lilacs including New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) and redroot (Ceanothus herbaceus var. pubescens) in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae).
Females deposit eggs singly on the host plant. Fully-grown caterpillars hibernate.
In May of 2009 the weather became very dry and winds were present much more often. Mottled Duskywings I encountered during 2009 were always worn and tattered.
Spring of 2010 has been exceptionally warm and the flights of the butterflies have been earlier than normal for many parts of the state (at least this spring). This is very evident on Crex Meadows also.
My first encounter with Mottled Duskywings happened late in the day, April 28, 2010. There were at least two individuals photographed, but again the winds were strong and it was hard getting a shot where both wings were open and flat and both wings were still.
Mottled Duskywings can look similar to the female Juvenals Duskywing but the Mottled Duskywing has more color variation in the inner 1/3rd of the upper forewing and does not have the two lower hindwing spots that the Juvenials has.
Other species that can be confused with the Mottled Duskywing includes the Wild Indigo Duskywing which flies during the Mottled Duskywings second flight. The Wild Indigo has not been documented in Burnett County at this time.
Here is a below shot view, and to date, the best underwing shot I have taken. Compare this with an underwing shot of a Juvenals and you will see the clear difference.
Picture above and to the right taken April 28, 2010
| Kingdom | Animalia | (Animals) |
| Phylum | Arthropoda | (Arthropods) |
| Superclass | Hexapoda | (Hexapods) |
| Class | Insecta | (Insects) |
| Subclass | Pterygota | (Winged Insects) |
| Order | Lepidoptera | (Butterflies and Moths) |
| Superfamily | Papilionoidea | (Butterflies) |
| Family | Hesperiidae | (Skippers) |
| Subfamily | Pyrginae | (Spread-wing Skippers) |
| Genus | Erynnis | (Duskywings) |
| Species | martialis | (Mottled Duskywing) |