CJ's Desert Dwellers: Dwarf Yellow Butterfly or "Dainty Sulphur" Nathalis iole Family: Pieridae (Whites and Sulphur Butterflies)
Little butterfly info: Butterflies are divided into two Superfamilies, then families, genera species, subspecies… There are 10 families in North America.
This Dwarf Yellow Butterfly is the smallest Pierid butterfly in North America. It is a resident of the south (Gulf states, AZ, CA, NV) but will emigrate to northern climes in summer, reaching into Manitoba in Canada and the American midwest.
The caterpillar is pretty small (5/8") and loved feeding on my Mt Lemmon Marigold Tagetes lemmonii
Both photos show the "Dainty Sulphur" sipping nectar from a Blackfoot Daisy Melampodium leucanthum
The red in the background of the second photo is Fuzzy Raspberries Acalypha monostachya
Canon EOS Digital Rel XTi
Canon Macro Lens EF 1800mm 1:3.5 L
Canon Extender EF 1.4x II
Handheld
Cropped
Taken yesterday at my place