Binomial: Hylephila phyleus
Range: Found throughout California and in North and South America
Host Plants: Various turfgrasses
This button-sized butterfly is a fiery skipper probing for nectar on tiny yellow flowers. The one inch males have orange and yellow wings with black spots, hence the “fiery” name. The females, however, are a duller, yellowish-brown with small dark spots. This male may have spent his tan, hairy larva-hood fattening up on the introduced Bermudagrass found all over this garden. And like Bermudagrass, these skippers have a broad distribution; notably throughout the southern United States and wherever the winters are mild. In his infancy, he had a dark, segmented head with a white ring around the collar, and dark, lateral stripes along his body. All grown up and decked out like a camp fire, he’ll perch close to the ground hoping that a passing female digs the pheromones he’s putting out.