Butterflies and Moths 
of
Southern Vancouver Island
Butterflies and Moths Introduction
The butterflies and moths and their immature stages shown in this series are not intended in any way to be a comprehensive list of all the Lepidoptera that have ever been recorded on Vancouver Island. They are merely a very few that I have been able, as an amateur, to find and photograph in spare time beginning in 1963. Likewise, the area covered is quite limited, being restricted to roughly an hour-and-a-half's drive from Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, from about Jordan River in the west to Chemainus in the north.
Since I am an amateur, I hope that professionals may forgive
the quite informal language that I have used in the species accounts. Informal
or not, however, I have tried hard to be factually correct. The information
given, such as foodplants, overwintering stage, life-history details, is based
for the most part on my own personal observations. In many cases, additional
foodplants other than those I have recorded are given in the literature, but
I have elected in these notes to include only those I can personally vouch for.
Without professional help, it would have been quite impossible for me to identify most of the species - especially the moths - that I have encountered. For help with the identifications, I am particularly indebted to Dr J. D. Lafontaine of Agriculture Canada, who has done many of the "macros", and his colleagues Bernard Landry, Jean-François Landry, P.T. Dang and Klaus Bolte who have helped with the "micros" and some of the more difficult geometrids. Also, Bob Duncan, of the Pacific Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, has helped with forest species I have not submitted all of the photographs to these experts, for I felt that I could manage to do the more distinctive species myself from existing literature. If a viewer believes there are any misidentifications (or indeed other mistakes), these are my responsibility and of my making, and I ask please do let me know (jtatum@uvic.ca) so that corrections can be made. I also want to thank the anonymous referees who went carefully over the original text at a time when I had contemplated publishing these photographs in book, rather than Web, form. They made many useful suggestions and pulled me up when I made the occasional amateur bloomer. Since I am a computer dunce, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. John Snyder of Furman University for putting these images on the Web. I have had companionship in the field and with rearing the caterpillars from some friends who wish to remain anonymous, but who will know who they are and who deserve my thanks.
For information on the photographic methods used, click HERE.
Jeremy B. Tatum