{"id":9485,"date":"2024-07-30T20:03:16","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T00:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/?p=9485"},"modified":"2024-07-30T20:03:16","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T00:03:16","slug":"butterflies-bronte-creek-early-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/butterflies-bronte-creek-early-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Punctuation Butterflies of June at Bronte Creek Provincial Park in Ontario"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have now seen at least 31 species of butterflies nectaring, sunning, mudpuddling, basking and patrolling territories at Bronte Creek Provincial Park in Ontario so far this summer. Here are a few of the ones I saw in late June.<\/p>\n

Punctuation Butterflies Make Me “Question” My Identification Skills<\/h2>\n

The tiny white mark on the underside of the wings of this butterfly suggest it is a Question Mark. These butterflies move north into southern Ontario in the spring, laying eggs as they travel. One as new and fresh as this likely grew up as a caterpillar here at Bronte Creek and hatched out recently to find a partner and create more fertile eggs.<\/p>\n

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

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

With its wings open, you can see that one of the black spots is like a dash or hyphen drawn above a curving line of three other black dots. That’s another good sign that this is probably a Question Mark.<\/p>\n

What Colour is This Comma?<\/h2>\n

The next “punctuation” butterfly I found was smaller than the Question Marks and was under attack! A Crescent butterfly was very upset with it and kept battering at it trying to force it to fly away.<\/p>\n

This Grey Comma has a very small white mark, shaped somewhat like a check mark or an L on the underside.<\/p>\n

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

On the wing tops, the black spots are small and few in number.<\/p>\n

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

This one seemed so colourful I suspected it may have just emerged from its chrysalis recently.<\/p>\n

Which Direction Is This Comma Pointing?<\/h2>\n

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

I would not have noticed this Eastern Comma perched on a trunk if another butterfly had not made me look for it. A Northern Pearly-eye was patrolling along the edge of a trail and it repeatedly stopped and fluttered near this spot. When I looked, I saw the Eastern Comma that had captured its attention.<\/p>\n

Eastern Commas have a mark somewhat like a smile with a thick line at each end on the underside. This one was not interested in showing off its orange uppersides.<\/p>\n

I’d better share this before I get called away again. Hopefully I can share some more of the early July butterflies soon!<\/p>\n

Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n