Wing span: 1 3/8 - 2 inches (3.5 - 5.1 cm).

Identification: Underside of hindwing with sparse marbling leaving much white space; pink tinge at upper margin in living butterflies.

Life history: Males patrol on hilltops for females. Females lay single egg on flower bud of host plant; caterpillars eat flowers and fruits. Chrysalids hibernate.

Flight: One flight from April-July, early in Texas, later in the north.

Caterpillar hosts: Various rock cresses (Arabis species) in the mustard family (Brassicaceae).

Adult food: Flowers of rock cresses, chickweed, phlox, and houstonia.

Habitat: Various open areas including prairies, foothills, lakeshore dunes, shale barrens, meadows, open woodlands.

Range: Southern Canada, central Montana and Colorado, south to central Texas, east through Great Lake states. Isolated populations in Appalachians from Pennsylvania to Tennessee.