Common Name: Sandhill Skipper
This is the multiple-brooded, somewhat
seasonally-polyphenic low-altitude member of the complex that usually breeds on
the turfgrass Distichlis spicata (occasionally on Bermuda Grass in
lawns). It is common at Suisun, West Sacramento and North Sacramento and may
colonize briefly elsewhere at low elevation. Specimens appearing to be this
entity also turn up sporadically at Sierra Valley. Males perch low, often on
the ground, and are highly territorial. Both sexes visit
low flowers, especially Heliotrope and Lippia. They also frequent
Aster and (on the E slope) Rabbitbrush. An urban species in the East Bay, only
sporadically seen on lawns inland. March-November; Sierra Valley records in
late summer and fall.