Species Information

Kingdom: Animalia
  Phylum: Arthropoda
    Class: Insecta
      Order: Lepidoptera
        Family: Hesperiidae
          Genus: Amblyscirtes
            Species: texanae

Texas Roadside-Skipper - Amblyscirtes texanae

Texas Roadside-Skipper

Image courtesy of Biota Information System of New Mexico

322019

Species Extent (New Mexico)

Status

Global Rank: G3

State Rank: S3

Rank Metadata
State Rank: S3 Rank Changed: 03/10/2025
Rank Reviewed: 07/31/1996
Reason: <em>Amblyscirtes texanae</em> also known as the Texas Roadside-Skipper is a resident to the American southwest and potentially northern Mexico. This species is found in open woodlands, canyons, and gullies where its hostplant Bulb Panicgrass (<em>Panicum bulbosum</em>) can be found. Population size and trends for this species are currently unknown and should be determined to ensure population health. This species lives in a small and disjunct range with an area of occupancy of just 28km<sup>2</sup>. This species sole known host plant is threatened by drought, invasive species, cattle grazing, development, fire suppression, increases in fire severity and climate change. On top of this the species has many life history traits which put it at increased extinction risk. Drought is considered to be the primary threat to this species with longer and more severe droughts causing mortality in native grasses, leading to increased wildfire severity, and benefiting invasive species propagation. Using indices of drought and occurrence data from the last decade nine to ten locations were determined for this species. This species also has an expected continuing decline in extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, quality of habitat, and number of subpopulations as climate change and drought continue to extirpate populations and reduce available habitat. As a result, this species is currently assessed as S3 in New Mexico. However, a reassessment should be done if more information becomes available.
 
Ecological Factors
Specificity: Narrow. Specialist or community with key requirements common. Range Extent: 20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles)
Occurences: 21 - 80 Population Size: Unknown
Area of Occupancy: An Area of Occupancy of 28km2 was calculated on GeoCat using data from GBIF.org and Toliver et al. 2001. Threat Summary: N/A

State Status:

Federal Status:

USFS Status:

BLM Status:

SWAP Status:

NMRP Strategy Status:

Observations in Natural Heritage New Mexico Database

Number of Subpopulations: 0

Number of Mapped Locations: 0

Number of Observations: 0


Species Related Publications

Show