Hesperia (butterfly)

{{Short description|Genus of butterflies}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Hesperiidae - Hesperia comma.JPG

| image_caption = Hesperia comma

| taxon = Hesperia

| authority = Fabricius, 1793

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = About 20 - see text

| synonyms =

  • Pamphila Fabricius, 1807
  • Diorthosus Rafinesque, 1815
  • Steropes Rafinesque, 1815
  • Phidias Rafinesque, 1815
  • Symmachia Sodoffsky, 1837
  • Ocytes Scudder, 1872
  • Anthomaster Scudder, 1872
  • Urbicola Tutt, 1905
  • Pamphilus Ihering, 1908

}}

File:Silver-spotted skipper butterfly (Hesperia comma) female.jpg

File:Silver-spotted skipper butterfly (Hesperia comma) female underside.jpg

Hesperia, the branded skippers, is a Holarctic genus in the skippers (Hesperiidae) butterfly family. Most species are endemic to North America, Hesperia comma is widespread throughout the region. H. florinda is endemic to temperate eastern Asia. H. nabokovi is endemic to Hispaniola.

Presumably, Johan Christian Fabricius named the genus for Hesperia, one of the Hesperides.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Hesperia:{{Cite web |title=Hesperia |url=https://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/hesperioidea/hesperiidae/hesperiinae/hesperia/index.html |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=www.nic.funet.fi}}

=Former species=

Many species originally described in the genus Hesperia have now been reclassified. For a list of selected former species see List of former species in the genus Hesperia.