The size of this butterfly is approximately 1/2 inch overall length.

This little butterfly seems to be very solitary and elusive and whenever I try to approach it to get a photo it will take flight as soon as I get within about 10 to 15ft.

It seems to fly very low in a fast and erratic flight path, generally staying about 10 to 15" above average terrain. When it lands it nearly always lands on a lower leaf of the plant well below the average height of the surrounding vegetation and immediately folds its wings into the upright position where is is very difficult to see.

I have observed it on white clover, red clover and a thistle blossom in the meadow or our yard but it seems to totally ignore all the flowers in our flower garden

I am attaching two photos, the first showing the wings in the upright (at rest) position. The second photo shows the wings partially open where you can possibly see enough of the coloration and markings to identify it. Getting a photo of the top proved extremely difficult because it keeps the wings in the upright position when resting on a plant and only opens them the moment it is taking flight.

They usually fly very low to the ground.