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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Butterflies and Skippers (Papilionoidea) » Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae) » Satyrs, Morphos and Owls (Satyrinae) » Alpines, Arctics, Nymphs and Satyrs (Satyrini) » Ringlets (Coenonympha) » Common Ringlet - Hodges#4582 (Coenonympha tullia) » California Ringlet (Coenonympha tullia california)
Photo#653880
Small Butterfly, white on the top - Coenonympha tullia
Copyright © 2012 Arthur Scott Macmillan

Small Butterfly, white on the top - Coenonympha tullia
Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, California, USA
June 6, 2012
Seen in a field of dried up tall grass, various small bushes and wild flowers on a cliff near the ocean.

in flight, it looks white or light grey, but when it lands, always on some low brush or twig, it holds its wings together straight up, so that only the undersides are visible, which are not white at all, but medium brown, making look like a dried up leaf.

it is a weak fluttery flier, only going about 6 feet at a time, but it usually does not stay landed very long.

size was in between a grass skipper and a cabbage white.
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Contributed by Arthur Scott Macmillan on 8 June, 2012 - 2:00pm
Last updated 8 June, 2012 - 6:11pm

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Arthur Scott Macmillan, 8 June, 2012 - 6:11pm login or register to post comments

Common Ringlet
(Coenonympha tullia)
… psweet, 8 June, 2012 - 3:31pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks for the ID!
...But i hate it when they are called 'common'!

Apparently there are several subspecies including, "Coenonympha tullia california" which is what we must have here in Santa Cruz!
… Arthur Scott Macmillan, 8 June, 2012 - 6:02pm login or register to post comments

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