{"id":8462,"date":"2021-07-21T13:05:36","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T17:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/?p=8462"},"modified":"2021-07-14T21:07:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T01:07:46","slug":"mississauga-butterflies-identifying-jigsaw-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/mississauga-butterflies-identifying-jigsaw-puzzle\/","title":{"rendered":"Identifying Butterflies in Mississauga"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/strong><\/a>. And then trying to identify the types of butterflies is a lot like solving a jigsaw puzzle.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
\nThis is some kind of Tiger Swallowtail. I’d prefer not to guess which kind though!<\/em><\/p>\n

Mysterious Mississauga Butterflies<\/h2>\n

I have several field guides to help identify butterflies in Ontario. My current favourite is the ROM Field Guide to Butterflies of Ontario<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

I also use several websites including
\nBugGuide.net<\/strong><\/a>;
\nButterflies and Moths of North America.org<\/strong><\/a>
\nand
\nOntario Butterflies<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two other websites, e-Butterfly.org<\/strong><\/a> and iNaturalist.org<\/strong><\/a> are also useful but more for reporting butterflies than for identifying them.<\/p>\n

The Jigsaw Puzzle of Butterfly ID<\/h2>\n

Identifying some butterflies is easy.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
\nA Monarch<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

A Viceroy<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
\nIn 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

But other times the only view I get is not the “common” view shown in the guides.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
\nThis 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

That’s when the Jigsaw Puzzle fun comes in.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I have to give up. Other times I get the id wrong. But I find the puzzle fun and rewarding.<\/p>\n

Remember the Common Butterfly Is the More Likely Butterfly<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
\nI 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!<\/em><\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

Join In<\/strong>
\nDo you have any favourite books or websites to help id your butterflies? Please share your ideas with a comment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Identifying Mississauga butterflies can be satisfying in the same way as snapping pieces into a jigsaw puzzle. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5,77,845],"class_list":["post-8462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rambles","tag-butterflies","tag-mississauga","tag-sheridan-meadows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8462"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8475,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8462\/revisions\/8475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}