Tonight while I was watering the garden I saw a tiny butterfly making stops at our nectar flowers. It waited in our garden long enough for me to run indoors and grab my camera. Then it posed, sitting on a white lantana watching me taking photos.

This little beauty is called a tropical checkered skipper. From research these butterflies lay eggs on plants of the mallow, or hibiscus family. Thomas C. Emmel of “Florida’s Fabulous Butterflies,” stated that the caterpillar will make a shelter by taking the leaf, folding and tying it together to hide during the day.

I did not have a chance to see the top of the wing, as it moved too fast when flying away. Too bad, as the top of the wings for males have “long, bluish-white hairs,” while females are much darker.

The skipper, Emmel said have hairy bodies, pointed wings and their heads are as wide as their body.