Identifying Butterflies in Mississauga

I’ve decided there are two things I enjoy about my butterfly walks: I like the Hide and Seek part of trying to observe and get photos of my local butterflies. And then trying to identify the types of butterflies is a lot like solving a jigsaw puzzle.

Photo of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on NaturalCrooksDotCom
This is some kind of Tiger Swallowtail. I’d prefer not to guess which kind though!

Mysterious Mississauga Butterflies

I have several field guides to help identify butterflies in Ontario. My current favourite is the ROM Field Guide to Butterflies of Ontario.

I also use several websites including
BugGuide.net;
Butterflies and Moths of North America.org
and
Ontario Butterflies.

Two other websites, e-Butterfly.org and iNaturalist.org are also useful but more for reporting butterflies than for identifying them.

The Jigsaw Puzzle of Butterfly ID

Identifying some butterflies is easy.

Photo of Monarch Rattray Marsh Mississauga on NaturalCrooksDotCom
A Monarch

For example, there are only two big butterflies common locally that look like a Monarch: a Monarch and a Viceroy. A quick check of the location and type of white spots on the wing tips and of the presence or absence of a black “horizontal” line on the lower, hind, wings helps make the decision.

Photo of Viceroy Rattray Marsh Mississauga ON on NaturalCrooksDotCom Photo of EasternTigerSwallowtailRattrayMarshMississaugaONCanada2016August5 on NaturalCrooksDotCom

A Viceroy

Other butterflies, though, are about the same size and have some similar markings. I’m talking about you Northern Broken-dash, Tawny-edged Skipper and your look-alikes.

If you get just the right view, for example the underside of the wings of a Peck’s Skipper, the id can be straight forward.

Photo of Pecks Skipper on NaturalCrooksDotCom
In my Mississauga neighbourhood, only a Peck’s skipper has this pale yellow vaguely capital H shaped mark on its underwing. If I can see this view, I know it’s a Peck’s.

But other times the only view I get is not the “common” view shown in the guides.

Photo of Delaware Skipper Oh No on NaturalCrooksDotCom
This view of a Delaware Skipper makes me laugh (Oh no!) and is certainly not a “standard view” in id guides. Luckily, it was guarding a territory and landed many times showing me lots of different views and angles.

That’s when the Jigsaw Puzzle fun comes in.

I search for photos that match the angle of my own. I compare the marks. I hem and haw and twist my mind in knots trying to figure it out.

Sometimes I have to give up. Other times I get the id wrong. But I find the puzzle fun and rewarding.

Remember the Common Butterfly Is the More Likely Butterfly

I won’t admit how many times I have tried to imagine the butterfly I saw was a rare migrant or an endangered species. In reality, though, almost all the butterflies I encounter are quite common in my area.

Photo of Fiery Skipper on NaturalCrooksDotCom
I did find a Fiery Skipper for five glorious minutes one summer afternoon–right in my neighbourhood. It was a very special day for me and I know who to thank for it!

That doesn’t stop me looking and hoping though. Someone found a migrant Funereal Duskywing in Toronto last year. Strange things do happen–so I keep looking!

Join In
Do you have any favourite books or websites to help id your butterflies? Please share your ideas with a comment.