Observations by kchou96

We saw this insect as we were looking at the milk thistle plant. The wings were a brown-yellowish color with dark brown spots. The body was fuzzy and thick, while the eyes were dark brown. It had an erratic flying pattern and would flutter very fast, landing occasionally. It landed for a few seconds on the milk thistle while it was sipping the nectar, long enough for us to take a snapshot, then it flew away.

There were many blackberries on the plant, some a deep purple, some bright red, and some a little of both. Since it was so close to road, the plant was a little dusty. The plant had many thorns on it and the leaves were wide and came in branches of three.

We saw this specimen at the beginning of our trail in Strawberry Canyon. It was located among many others of its kind in a large patch of land with dry yellow grass and lots of sunlight. Beneath the plants was many fluffy white seeds, possibly from the milk thistles. It had bright, spiky purple flowers and pointy dusty-looking green leaves. There were multiple purple flowers on each plant.