This Pyrgus albescens, or White Checkered-Skipper, was resting on a dandylion flower on my front lawn just as rain was beginning to fall. I was shocked to see it at home: I'd never seen one of these anywhere I've lived, just out in rural areas. April 26, 2015.
A male White Checkered Skipper, Chandler Preserve, Palos Verdes in L.A. County, March 19, 2008.
A female White Checkered Skipper at Laguna Meadows, July 24, 2011. Their white areas are a bit diminished compared to the males.
A female Pyrgus albescens on a hilltop above El Capitan State Beach in Santa Barbara Co., August 30, 2011.
Pyrgus albescens female ovipositing on host mallows, same day as above...
... and an egg from the ovipositing female.
Ventral view. From Satwiwa Cultural Center in the Santa Monica Mountains, Oct. 31, 2005.
©Dennis Walker