This is Thalassa montezumae (no English name), and it really is this color! It’s native to Mexico and the U.S. southwest, and has recently turned up in Florida too.

Mixed media: Faber-Castell Aquarelle pencils, Prismacolor pencils, and Photoshop.

I drew the beetle in Aquarelle, then went over it with a wet paintbrush to get the smooth, blended watercolor effect. After it dried, I used Prismacolor Verithin pencils for the fine details. Then I scanned it into Photoshop and added the background, a texture by rubyblossom on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/rubyblossom/3255785648/

If you have the Kaufman Guide to Insects (by Kenn Kaufman and Eric Eaton), you'll recognize this jaunty fellow from the front cover. I've actually shown this to Eric (visit him at bugeric.blogspot.com), and he says it's even better than the real book cover!

This is the first Prismacolor drawing I ever did; I haven't used anything but Prismacolors since then! Sachem Skippers are either butterflies, or closely related to butterflies (the scientific jury is still out). This is based on a photo I took; I traced the most complicated outlines and then did the rest by hand.