Polites sabuleti sabuleti

Sandhill Skipper

I believe these were once more common than they are now in southern California, especially in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Growing up in the Los Angeles suburbs, I never saw this skipper, nor had I seen one over about five years living in Long Beach, when I decided to drive a couple of hours down to Famosa Slough in San Diego County to photograph this species. That was in August of 2008, and I was excited to see several of them, and both sexes. A month later, I found one in my backyard. I wish I could say that was the beginning of my noticing these skippers regularly on the flowers in my yard, but I haven't seen one since in Long Beach. A good place to look for these besides Famosa Slough is Guajome Regional Park in Oceanside.

The main larval food plant of Polites sabuleti is saltgrass, Distichlis spicata.