Wildlife Spotting

Here's a link with more information: https://www.butterfliesofamerica.com/L/strymon_melinus_pudica.htm

The subspecies from the Los Angeles area is (pudica). (Strymon melinus pudica).

Hi Steven, I think that what you are seeing, in the coloration of your butterfly's wings, is caused by the upper surface of the wing being a dark color while the under wing surface is a light color. If there is some backlighting from the sunshine, the two colors are mixing differently as the angle of the wings changes. Sometimes the effect can be beautiful, but mostly it just makes the photos look like they are pictures of different butterflies.