Southern Broken-Dash

Appearance

Wingspan: 1 - 1½ inches (2.5 - 3.5 cm). The uppersides of the wings are brown with orange patches on the male forewing and smaller, orange patches on the female. The upperside of the forewing in the male also has a black stigma that is broken into two-parts (hence the name, “broken-dash”) with a squarish, coppery-brown patch separating them. The underside of the male hindwing is rusty-red to rusty-orange with a band of pale spots forming a “3”, or a vertical curved semi-circle “) “. The female is similarly colored but darker. The male antennae are orange and black.

Naming

Taxonomic Notes: The Southern Broken-Dash and the Northern Broken-Dash were long considered to be subspecies. However, they have been documented as occurring together at the same locality where they do not interbreed with one another. Therefore, it became obvious to taxonomists that they were really two distinct species in spite of their similar features. The Southern Broken-Dash is more common than the Northern Broken-Dash.

Distribution

The Southern Broken-Dash is normally distributed from the southeastern United States west to Texas and southward through Mexico, Central America, and into Argentina. It also is found on the West Indies. Under favorable conditions, it may stray as far north as Delaware, Kentucky and Kansas.