{{Short description|Species of butterfly}} {{Speciesbox | image = Atrytone_arogos_2192012.jpg | image_caption = | genus = Atrytone | species = arogos | authority = (Boisduval & Le Conte, [1834]) | synonyms = {{Specieslist |Hesperia arogos|Boisduval & Le Conte, [1834] |Atrytone vitellius| (J. E. Smith, 1797) |Atrytone mutius| (Plötz, 1883) |Phycanassa arogos| |Hesperia iowa|Scudder, 1868 }} | status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn |author=Walker, A. |author2=Geest, E. |author3=Royer, E. |year=2022 |title=''Atrytone arogos'' |volume=2022 |article-number=e.T125854891A125886048 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T125854891A125886048.en |access-date=22 March 2023}}</ref> | status2 = G2 | status2_system = TNC | status2_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 ''Atrytone arogos'', Arogos Skipper. |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106956/Atrytone_arogos |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref> }}
'''''Atrytone arogos''''', the '''arogos skipper''' or '''beard-grass skipper''', is an endangered species of butterfly within the family Hesperiidae. There are two subspecies, the ''Atrytone arogos arogos'' found mainly on the southeastern coast and the ''Atrytone arogos iowa.''<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |title=Atrytone arogos iowa : Iowa Skipper {{!}} Rare Species Guide |url=https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rsg/profile.html?action=elementDetail&selectedElement=IILEP70012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250710141052/https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rsg/profile.html?action=elementDetail&selectedElement=IILEP70012 |archive-date=2025-07-10 |access-date=2025-11-16 |work=Minnesota Department of Natural Resources |language=en}}</ref> The ''Atrytone arogos'' was originally misidentified as the ''Papilio vitellius'' resulting in research completed under the wrong name.<ref name=":1" /> Due to this, it is heavily debated when the species was discovered. Some entomologists argue that it was identified in 1833, however others claim it was identified in 1837.<ref name=":2" /> As it is both endangered and lacking consistent research, there is little known about the ''Atrytone arogos''. thumb|Feeding on a flower head
== Description == thumb|200px
The ''Atrytone argos'' often found in the southeastern United States<ref name=":1" /> shares a physical resemblance with the ''Atrytone delaware'',<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Heitzman |first=Richard |title=THE LIFE HISTORY OF ATRYTONE AROGOS (HESPERIIDAE) |url=https://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1960s/1966/1966-20(3)177-Heitzman.pdf |journal=Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society |pages=177–181}}</ref> which can be found throughout the eastern United States.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Delaware Skipper Anatrytone logan (W.H. Edwards, 1863) {{!}} Butterflies and Moths of North America |url=https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Anatrytone-logan |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=www.butterfliesandmoths.org}}</ref>
The adult ''Atrytone argos'' has vibrant yellow wings with a dark blackish-brown boarder. Its wingspan has been measured at 2.9-3.7 cm.<ref name=":6" /> Male ''Atrytone argos'' butterflies have thinner black borders than the female ''Atrytone argos'' butterflies.<ref name=":4" /> The underside of the ''Atrytone argos''{{'}} wings is a paler yellow color than the top of the wings.<ref name=":6" /> Throughout metamorphosis, the ''Atrytone argos'' undergoes five instar stages, and when the butterfly finishes all stages of metamorphosis, its physical appearance is similar to that of the fifth instar period.<ref name=":4" />
== Taxonomy == There are two subspecies:<ref name=":3" /> *''Atrytone arogos arogos'' (nominate subspecies) *''Atrytone arogos iowa'' While a lot of sources found on the ''Atrytone arogos arogos'' say that the original finding of the species was in 1833 and 1834, this is not the case. The first subspecies was found in 1837.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=CALHOUN |first=John V. |date=2004 |title=HISTOIRE GENERALE ET ICONOGRAPHIE DES LEPIDOPTERES ET DES CHENILLES DE L'AMERIQUE SEPTENTRIONALE BY BOISDUVAL & LE CONTE (1829-[1837]): ORIGINAL DRAWINGS USED FOR THE ENGRAVED PLATES AND TilE TRUE IDENTITIES OF FOUR FIGURED TAXA |url=https://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/2000s/2004/2004-58(3)143-Calhoun.pdf |journal=Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society}}</ref>
== Distribution and habitat == The ''Atrytone arogo'' is found in the Eastern and Midwestern United States, often stationed a few hundred kilometers away from the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.<ref name=":1" /> It generally resides in isolated colonies in peninsular Florida, the Gulf Coast, south-east North Dakota, southern Texas and the Colorado Front Range. Strays are found up from New Jersey to northern Arkansas. It is considered possibly extirpated from New York, Minnesota, Wyoming, Illinois, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Iowa, Georgia, Montana, as well as Pennsylvania.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arogos Skipper {{!}} Xerces Society |url=https://www.xerces.org/endangered-species/species-profiles/at-risk-butterflies-moths/arogos-skipper |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=www.xerces.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The ''Atrytone arogos'' thrives in grasslands and prairies, as well as flat woods and pine savannas.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Arogos Skipper - Alabama Butterfly Atlas |url=https://alabama.butterflyatlas.usf.edu/species/details/21/arogos-skipper |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=alabama.butterflyatlas.usf.edu}}</ref> These ecosystems are threatened by wild fires, land management, or lack thereof, destroying viable habitats. This is a significant factor leading to their extirpation.<ref name=":1" />
== Life cycle ==
=== Mating === Male ''Atrytone arogos arogos'' will perch on low vegetation near their host plants. These host plants vary in their region of location. A common host plant for the ''Atrytone arogos arogos'' is the big bluestem.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Arogos Skipper Atrytone arogos (Boisduval & Leconte, [1837]) {{!}} Butterflies and Moths of North America |url=https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Atrytone-arogos |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=www.butterfliesandmoths.org}}</ref> These host plants are dense areas of grass suitable for larva. The males remain on the vegetation to find females to mate with.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Minno |first=Marc C |last2=Minno |first2=Maria |date=2006 |title=Conservation of the Arogos Skipper, Atrytone arogos arogos (Lepidoptrea: Hesperiidae) in Florida |url=https://www.ces.fau.edu/fdpc/proceedings/3-17145_p.21924_Min_FDPC_d.pdf |journal=Land of Fire and Water: The Florida Dry Prairie Ecosystem}}</ref>
=== Metamorphosis === The ''Atrytone arogos arogos'' undergoes metamorphosis to develop. Their life cycle begins as an egg. The egg is cream in color and has distinctive irregularly shaped red bands circling it. The female arogos skipper singularly deposits the eggs under the leaves of host plants. A larva develops from the egg. These larvae, also called caterpillars, are light bluish green in color, have a dark green line running along its dorsal side, and a light tan head with orange and brown vertical lines. The caterpillar consumes a diet of leaves.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Arogos Skipper - Alabama Butterfly Atlas |url=https://alabama.butterflyatlas.usf.edu/species/details/21/arogos-skipper |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=alabama.butterflyatlas.usf.edu}}</ref> Once the caterpillar reaches fourth-stage it will complete its feeding for the next spring and begin hibernation. It finds a place to cocoon about three feet off the ground in vegetation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shepherd |first=Matthew |date=May 2005 |title=Atrytone arogos (Boisduval & LeConte), 1834 Arogos Skipper (Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae) |url=https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/atrytone_arogos.pdf |journal=Red List of Pollinator Insects |via=The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation}}</ref> The chrysalis is a pale tan in color with a slightly lighter abdomen.<ref name=":0" /> From the chrysalis, the butterfly form of the ''Atrytone arogos arogos'' emerges.
== Adaptation and conservation == Overall, it appears that the ''Atrytone'' ''argos'' adapts very poorly to its environment.<ref name=":4" /> This is one of the major contributors to the ''Atrytone argos'' status as an endangered species, because it is not expected to recover from its endangered state and will likely become extinct. The endangered status of this species is also primarily due to the fact that prairies are being rapidly destroyed. This, combined with the ''Atrytone argos''{{'}} low ability to adapt, has resulted in a rapid decline in the ''Atrytone argos'' population.<ref name=":4" />
In addition, other butterflies in the ''Atrytone'' genus, specifically those in the midwestern United States, have struggled to adapt to the abundance of wildfires seen in that region.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Swengel |first=Ann B. |date=1996-01-01 |title=Effects of fire and hay management on abundance of prairie butterflies |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0006320795000852 |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=76 |issue=1 |pages=73–85 |doi=10.1016/0006-3207(95)00085-2 |issn=0006-3207 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> As malls, industries, and the development of cities and suburbs overtake the natural prairie lands in America, the natural habitat of the ''Atrytone arogos'' declines.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arogos skipper |url=https://conservewildlifenj.org/?species=atrytone-arogos-arogos |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ |language=en-US}}</ref> Due to these changes, along with natural disasters, such as wildfires and tornadoes, the ''Atrytone arogos'' is predicted to become extinct in the near future unless a management plan is put into action. Some measures that can be put in place to save the species include developing a plan to preserve existing populations and performing studies and experiments aimed at discovering more about the species in order to save the butterfly.<ref name=":1" /> It can be concluded that the ''Atrytone argos,'' similar to the other species within the ''Atrytone'' genus, struggles to adapt to the environmental changes that are occurring throughout North America.<ref name=":7" />
== Diet == The larvae feed on ''Andropogon gerardi'', ''Panicum'', ''Calamovilfa brevipilis'' and other grasses. Adults feed on the nectar from flowers of purple vetch, Canada thistle, dogbane, stiff coreopsis, purple coneflower, green milkweed and ox-eye daisy.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=IRC - Natives for Your Neighborhood |url=https://www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/WildlifeDetail.asp?tx=Atryarog/BU |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=www.regionalconservation.org}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20101207170720/http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=2104 Butterflies and Moths of North America] *[http://bugguide.net/node/view/80659 Bug Guide]
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Category:Hesperiini Category:Butterflies described in 1834 Category:Taxa named by John Eatton Le Conte Category:Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval Category:Butterflies of North America Category:Lepidoptera of the United States