Ochlodes yuma (Yuma Skipper) | Natural Heritage New Mexico

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Hesperiidae

Genus: Ochlodes

Species: yuma

Yuma Skipper - Ochlodes yuma

405503

Species Extent (New Mexico)

Global Rank: G4

State Rank: S1

Rank Metadata
State Rank: S1	Rank Changed: 03/11/2025
Rank Reviewed: 07/31/1996
Reason: The Yuma Skipper (<em>Ochlodes yuma</em>) is a riparian obligate found in the western United States. This species is restricted to a single host plant, Common Reed (<em>Phragmites australis</em>), which grows in small beds along riparian corridors. As the western United States has dried out over the last 20,000 years, the distribution of this species has become increasingly patchy. As a result, this species occurs in fragmented, small pockets of habitat, and cannot readily disperse among neighboring occurrences. Continuing decline has been observed in habitat extent and quality, and is inferred in its Area of Occupancy (AOO) and the number of mature individuals, based on decline in suitable habitat. Drought, invasive species, and climate change are the primary drivers of decline. Given the area covered by extreme drought conditions in recent years. Therefore, the species is assessed as S1 in New Mexico at this time. Monitoring of sites is needed given the isolation and susceptibility to decline.

Ecological Factors
Specificity: Very narrow. Specialist or community with key requirements scarce.	Range Extent: 1000-5000 square km (about 400-2000 square miles)
Occurences: 1 - 5	Population Size: Unknown
Area of Occupancy: Using all known points from Toliver et al. 2001, GBIF.org, iNaturalist, and Butterflies of New Mexico an Area of Occupancy of 10km2 was calculated with GeoCat.	Threat Summary: N/A

State Status:

Federal Status:

USFS Status:

BLM Status:

SWAP Status: SGCN

NMRP Strategy Status:

Number of Subpopulations: 0

Number of Mapped Locations: 0

Number of Observations: 0

Show