Hoary edge
Achalarus lyciades
Butterfly
The hoary edge is a broad-winged skipper named for the pale, frosted edge on the hindwing underside. Larvae feed on legumes such as tick-trefoils, bush-clovers, and wild indigos, including Baptisia in garden-facing host lists. Adults visit flowers for nectar, but the important support move is maintaining sunny native legume patches and leaving enough host foliage for leaf-sheltering caterpillars.
Plants in the catalog
Larval host plants · 1
NC State lists hoary edge (Achalarus lyciades) among the documented Lepidoptera larvae hosted by blue false indigo.
Range
Eastern and central North America, especially open woodland edges, prairies, barrens, and legume-rich clearings.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Hoary edge (Achalarus lyciades). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/achalarus-lyciades
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
BAMONA: Hoary Edge Achalarus lyciades
Species profile used for range, flight-season, and legume larval-host context.
BugGuide: Achalarus lyciades
Identification and host-plant cross-check for hoary edge.
GBIF: Achalarus lyciades
GBIF matches Achalarus lyciades exactly as an accepted species at usageKey 1950349.
iNaturalist: Cecropterus lyciades
iNaturalist taxon 1638403 covers the same hoary edge butterfly under its reclassified name Cecropterus lyciades, treating Achalarus lyciades as a synonym.