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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.