Mormon Metal-Mark
Apodemia mormo
Photo taken at Pima Canyon in the Sta. Catalina Mts., Arizona, August 22, 1986.
The host plant for the caterpillar of this pretty little butterfly is Flat-topped Buckwheat -- Eriogonum fasciculatum (plus a few other species of Eriogonum>). This shrubby plant is found in the upper elevations of the Sonoran Desert mostly above 1000 m. The butterfly rarely ventures far from this plant and mostly only to find suitable nectar sources.
Observed at Camp Creek, Maricopa Co., Arizona, Sept. 2008.