Problema byssus, the byssus skipper or bunchgrass skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found along the Atlantic coastal plain of North America, from North Carolina south to Florida and the Gulf States and from northern Indiana west to Iowa and south to Missouri and Kansas.
The Byssus Skipper is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan ranging from 3.7 to 4.6 cm. Its upper wings are bright yellow-orange bordered with black, giving the illusion of a central patch. The underside of the forewings maintains the yellow-orange hue, while the hindwings are dull yellow in males and rust-colored in females. A band of pale spots is typically visible on the hindwings. https://xerces.org/search/node?keys=problema+byssushttps://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Problema-byssus
The wingspan is 37âÂÂ46 mm.
The larvae feed on Tripsacum dactyloides.
The species exhibits a disjunct distribution across three regions in North America:
Habitats include tallgrass prairies in the Midwest and moist grassy wetlands âÂÂe.g., marsh edges, wet pine savannasâÂÂalong the Atlantic coast https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Problema-byssus
NatureServe ranks Problema byssus as G3âÂÂG4 (rare or locally threatened). At the state level, populations in Nebraska are considered critically imperiled (S1) https://nebraskalepidoptera.com/byssus2/?utm. Conservation measures focus on preserving tallgrass prairie and wetland habitats with host-grass clumps and cautious use of fire .