Silvery Checkerspot
Today I saw a small orange and black butterfly fluttering low over a rough grassy patch of ground. It settled for several moments on the low-cut grass with wings outspread. It was very small, with a striking pattern of vivid orange and black with tiny white spots on black near the upper wing-tips and a very thin outline of white around both upper and lower wings. Its coloring was such an intense orange and black I thought it looked like a good butterfly for Halloween. I also saw what I think was a faint hint of turquoise color on the body just behind the head.
It was a clear, sunny late morning, and I was able to see it well but only for a few moments. When I tried to get a photo with my phone, it flew – and fluttered away in a kind of erratic pattern into a nearby line of trees, staying fairly low to the ground. After doing a little research, I’m pretty sure it was a Silvery Checkerspot butterfly, (Chlosyne nycteis), which is considered locally common in several areas of Georgia, and a large part of the eastern U.S. However, it was difficult to find much more information about it at all. I very much wish I could have gotten a photo. Butterflies in general have been