About Problema bulenta (Boisduval & Le Conte, 1833)
Problema bulenta, commonly known as the rare skipper, is a butterfly species belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is difficult to find within the United States, and the species was first described from a drawing. Isolated populations of the rare skipper occur along the East Coast of the United States, ranging from southern New Jersey south to Georgia. The species was originally described based on a drawing of a specimen created by John Abbot in Georgia. No additional specimen was collected until the 1920s, near Wilmington, North Carolina. It was next recorded in Virginia in 1973, and then in Maryland in 1984. In 1993, the species was noted as rarely occurring in large groups, and was a candidate for listing as threatened or endangered. In Delaware, mosquito control spraying has caused significant negative impacts to the rare skipper. This butterfly is known to occur only in marshes along the Chickahominy River in Virginia, where its habitat is threatened by housing and recreational development. A 1984 publication states that the rare skipper is only known to inhabit areas along the Chickahominy River in Virginia, the Wicomico River in Maryland, the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, the Santee River in South Carolina, and the Savannah River in Georgia. During the 1980s, the species' range was found to also include New Jersey and Delaware. A 1993 article in the Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society reported the collection of additional specimens around New Jersey. One larva and one reared male specimen are held at the Yale University Peabody Museum of Natural History. Multiple other specimens were donated to Yale and the Cornell University Entomology Collection. The remaining specimens were given to Stockton State College and the personal collection of researcher Dale F. Schweitzer.
