Bug FAQTurk's-cap White-Skipper
Heliopetes macaira · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
It lives from southern Texas through Central America down to Paraguay. Caterpillars eat Malvaviscus drummondii and adults sip nectar from flowers.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Heliopetes macaira, known as the Turk's-cap white-skipper, belongs to the butterfly family Hesperiidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan ranges from 32 to 35 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found from southern Texas southward through Central America to Paraguay.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on the plant Malvaviscus drummondii, while adults drink nectar from flowers.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Several generations occur, with adults flying from April to November in southern Texas.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing from April through November in southern Texas.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes southern Texas in North America and extends through Central America to Paraguay.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliopetes_macaira
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.