Ochlodes agricola nemorum

Rural Skipper or the Farmer

This subspecies of agricola is a paler, more orange skipper of the Sierra Nevadas. It flies from May to mid-July as a single brood. In the Systematics book (p.21), Emmel, Emmel, and Mattoon restricted the type locality to the Queen Lily Campground near Belden in Plumas County, California. I've seen it at mid-elevations on the western end of the Sherman Pass Road, but it does get into southern California in Kern county.

Ochlodes agricola nemorum - Forest Skipper
I had a chance to get just two quick shots of this Ochlodes agricola nemorum before it took off. This was at a roadside at 4300' on the west side of Sherman Pass Road. May 15, 2014.
Illustration of the type specimen of Ochlodes agricola nemorum - Forest Skipper
Charles Oberthür's illustration of Boisduval's type specimen (a male only) of Hesperia nemorum, now Ochlodes agricola nemorum. This was published in 1913 in Études de Lépidoptérologie Comparée, p.43 and plate CCXL, combined here for convenience.

©Dennis Walker