Gesta pacuvius callidus

Artful Duskywing

The "artful" (callidus is latin for artful or skillful) duskywing is widely distributed in the non-desert mountains of southern California. I see it often around Big Bear in the San Bernardinos (mostly May through June), and it also can be found in the San Gabriels, San Jacintos, and down into the Lagunas and higher reaches of San Diego County, where there are records from April through August. The type locality is Mt. Wilson in the San Gabriels. One reason the skipper is widespread in our mountains is that is uses certain common lilac shrubs found there. This includes Ceanothus cordulatus (mountain whitethorn) in Big Bear, and the Monroes mention (what is now) C. perplexans (cupped leaf ceanothus) and C. oliganthus (hairy ceanothus) for the Anza-Borrego area. Below I have photos showing oviposition on cordulatus.

Identiying these can be a bit tricky. First, the lack of a white hind wing fringe eliminates tristis and funeralis from consideration. Second (and despite the sizes given in Garth and Tilden's book California Butterflies), these duskywings are noticably smaller than those two and propertius, and are closer in size to afranius. Third, males are very dark; a small, near-uniformly dark skipper in our mountains with ceanothus around could well be a pacuvius male. Finally, there are the host associations: pacuvius uses a few species of Ceanothus; afranius uses legumes such as low-growing species of Acmispon; and propertius uses oaks, esp. coast live oak.