Common Sootywing
August 2023
The Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus) is a tiny brown butterfly with bold white spots on the upper side. These white spots can be seen only on the forewing from the ventral side. Sootywings have a plain brown appearance and the standout field mark is the white markings. They have a light but fast flight style and usually stay low to the ground. Their dark color makes them extremely difficult to track.
Female - August 2026
Female - August 2026
How cool is this butterfly?!!!! I think because it took me so long to find Common Sootywing, I will always find them interesting and enjoyable to observe. It seems quite uncommon to get extended views while the butterfly is at rest or feeding on a single flower, so I always appreciate the chance.
Male - August 2023
The amount of white spots is highly variable, but they almost look like paint flecks as compared with the pearly white dots on other duskywing species like Juvenal’s, Horaces, or Wild Indigo Duskywings, which makes Sootywings easily distiguishable.
August 2023
You can get a nice idea of size from this image as the butterfly feeds on the very common white field clover bloom. They only have about a 1-inch wingspan and could easily be overlooked. Also note the prominent white dots on the underside of the forewing in this image.
August 2023
It’s amazing how quickly these butterflies can disappear from one clover flower and appear many yards away at another in an instant! It was so hard to track them if they didn’t fly to blooms in the immediate vicinity, but was also enjoyable to keep trying to find more!!
Male - August 2023
I really like this image because it shows the nice lush habitat created at this organic farm. It provides a perfect location for this and many other species to choose from a huge number of plant species for nectar or refuge.
August 2023
They look very inquisitive when staring at you from the front!!
August 2023
I’ve noticed that many species with “Common” right in their name are not quite so common. It took me years to finally find one of these guys and it’s probably because they occur on private farmland etc where their host plants are abundant. That’s how I ended up finding large numbers of the species after locating just one individual puddling in 2022.
