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Excerpts from Jim Conrad's
Naturalist Newsletter
from the July 26, 2009 Newsletter, describing a backpacking trip on the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail in Red Buttes Wilderness Area, Siskiyou County, California:
NORTHERN CHECKERSPOT
Lying upside down atop the black pool of water Christie filtered was the butterfly shown above.
In exotic environments you hope for exotic species and though this butterfly looked a lot like the Edith's Checkerspot introduced here a while back, still seen at http://www.backyardnature.net/n/a/echecker.htm it looked different enough to photograph.
Bea in Ontario and I agree that it's the very closely related Northern Checkerspot, CHLOSYNE PALLA, found in much of northwestern US and adjacent Canada. Older books sometime call it the Rockslide Checkerspot, Charidryas damoetas.
Change elevation and plants and animals change, too...
By the way, the floating checkerspot turned out still to be alive. I removed him to a blade of grass and left him drying in the sun.