Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)
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The Fiery Skipper is a cheery little golden butterfly that often visits flowers that are in the sunshine. The male is the smaller of the two genders and has upper wings marked by black and gold. The female is darker brown above. All three of the photos here show males. The undersides of both sexes are paler yellow with small scattered spots.
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The fiery skipper is a member of the group of skippers called closed-wing or folded-wing. These butterflies rarely hold their wings open flat, but usually keep them tightly closed together. The other attitude their wings take is different from any other butterfly. They hold their hindwings at a lower angle than their forewings. This can be seen in the photo below. The wings themselves even fold up a good deal.
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class: Insecta / order: Lepidoptera / family: Hesperiidae / genus: Hylephila / species: phyleus
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