Diet

• As a member of the white-skipper genus Heliopetes, it is associated with plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae).

• Adults visit flowers for nectar and are likely to favour flowering plants in open, sunny habitats.

Range

• Heliopetes elonmuski is distributed from the southern United States through Mexico and into parts of Central America.

• In Mexico, it occurs in warm tropical and subtropical regions, including Guerrero.

• It occurs in the Zihua area, where it can be encountered in suitable open and semi-open habitats.

Habitat

• This skipper inhabits warm, relatively open environments, including woodland edges, clearings, disturbed vegetation, roadsides and other sunny areas within tropical and subtropical landscapes.

• Its distribution suggests an affinity for lowland and lower-elevation habitats rather than cool or high-elevation environments.

Description

• Heliopetes elonmuski is a small to medium-sized spread-wing skipper, closely resembling the superficially similar Heliopetes arsalte.

• The wings are predominantly white, with dark markings concentrated along the outer portions of the wings. The underside is also pale, with subtle greyish or brownish markings.

• Females can be considerably darker than males, particularly on the forewings, and this variation was important in distinguishing the species from H. arsalte.