Diet

• Caterpillars feed on mallows (Malvaceae) and other related plants.

• The caterpillar folds or rolls a portion of a leaf into a small shelter and feeds from within or nearby.

• Adults feed on flower nectar.

Range

• Heliopetes laviana has a broad distribution extending from Argentina north through South America, Central America and Mexico to southern Texas.

• In Mexico it occurs across much of the country, including Guerrero. It is also present in the Zihua area, where it occurs in suitable open habitats and along woodland edges.

Habitat

• This skipper favours open or semi-open habitats, including brushy areas, trails, roadsides, open woodland, thorn forest, stream margins and clearings.

• It is particularly well suited to areas where mallows grow in sunny, disturbed or naturally open vegetation.

• Around Zihua, it can occur along roadsides, trails, scrubby vegetation and other open areas adjoining tropical woodland.

Description

• The Laviana White-Skipper is a small to medium-sized skipper with a wingspan of approximately 35–42 mm.

• The male has predominantly white upper wings with dark markings along the outer margins. Females generally have broader dark markings and noticeably greyer wing bases.

• The underside of the hindwing provides an especially useful identification feature: a sharply defined olive-grey area occupies much of the outer third, contrasting with the paler central portion. The darker basal area contains a distinctive pale triangular patch.

• The combination of the white wings, dark marginal markings and strongly contrasting olive-grey hindwing underside helps distinguish H. laviana from several other white skippers occurring in western Mexico.