Saltbush Sootywing (Hesperopsis alpheus [W. H. Edwards])
Wing span: 3/4 - 1 1/4 inches (2 - 3.2 cm).
Identification: Fringes are checkered. Upperside is black. Forewing has a mottled gray pattern and a row of dark bars near the outer margin. Hindwing may have pale spots. Underside is black; hindwing with small pale spots.
Life history: To find receptive females, males patrol all day around the host plants and in gulches. Caterpillars eat leaves and make shelters of rolled leaves.
Flight: Two broods from May-September.
Caterpillar hosts: Shadscale (Atriplex canescens) and quail brush (Atriplex lentiformis) in the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae).
Adult food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Desert washes, alkali flats, arid canyons.
Range: Nevada east to Colorado; south to southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico.
