Small skipper butterflies don’t stand out as much as their larger, more colorful brethren, but they have an understated beauty that I find striking. It’s a daunting challenge, however, to identify them.
According to Wikipedia, there are more than 3500 recognized species of skippers worldwide, so I don’t feel too bad that my identification skills are weak in this area. As I looked through images on-line, I came across one identified as a Little Glassywing (Pompeius verna) that looks a bit like the one that I photographed, though my confidence level in this identification is pretty low.
I am confident, however, that I like the image I captured of the little skipper. There is a pretty good amount of detail, the background is blurred, and the leaves on which the butterfly is perched makes for an interesting pose.
UPDATE: A butterfly expert has definitively identified this as a female Sachem (Atalopedes campestris). Thanks to Joe Schelling and Jim Brock for their assistance in identifying this little skipper.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Great picture, Mike, and yeah, those skippers can be tricky. Oddly enough, I happen to be on a trip with the guy that wrote the book “Butterflies of North America,” Jim Brock, who id’d it as a female Sachem (Atalopedes campestris). The spots and that orange streak are distinctive.
Wow. It’s amazing that someone knows butterflies so well that he can identify it by species as well as by gender. Thanks to you (and to him) for the assist in identification.
You certainly achieved your aims with A.P and detail so that the viewer can see all the wonderful detail
Your photo does let me do a little of my own research and it is really hard to get down to the genius-species level.
Nice photo, Mike. I would have said, no distinguishing features, but obviously there are enough key features for some people to ID them!
Looks like this little butterfly likes mint?
My first thought when I saw the picture was “little glassywing” too.
3500 of them, now I don’t feel so bad either. I too am amazed of the ID having gender identified. Your skipper is really a nice photo. Her eye just jumps off the screen.
That’s an excellent photo. I would have been lucky to even get to the fact that it is a skipper.
O.K. “Grease” is king of a guilty is a guilty pleasure of mine once a year. Great shots..:-)
Stupid laptop, I meant kind of a guilty pleasure..