Wing span: 1 1/8 - 1 7/16 inches (2.9 - 3.7 cm).

Identification: Upperside is yellow-orange with black borders which are wider in females. Underside of hindwing is yellow with paler veins.

Life history: To wait for receptive females, males perch on low vegetation near host plants in the afternoon. Females deposit eggs singly under host plant leaves. Caterpillars feed on leaves and live in tents of two leaves silked together. Fourth-stage caterpillars hibernate, complete their feeding the next spring, and pupate in a leaf cocoon in vegetation about 3 feet above the ground.

Flight: One brood from June-July in the north and west; two broods from April-September in the south.

Caterpillar hosts: Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi) and probably other native grasses.

Adult food: Nectar from flowers of purple vetch, Canada thistle, dogbane, stiff coreopsis, purple coneflower, green milkweed, and ox-eye daisy.

Habitat: Relatively undisturbed grasslands, prairies, sand prairies, and serpentine barrens.

Range: Occurs in isolated colonies Georgia; peninsular Florida; the Gulf Coast; southeast North Dakota and central Minnesota south to South Texas; and the Colorado front range. Strays to west Virginia, northern Arkansas, and Illinois.