2024 June 8

Jeff Gaskin writes:  Well today, June 8,  I finally found a swallowtail.  There were two actually and they were both in Colwood.  These were Western Tiger Swallowtails with one seen on Latoria Road  and the other one on Sunheights Drive, Triangle mMountain.

At least one Cardinal Meadowhawk was still at the ponds in Cuthbert Holmes Park as were the several California Darners but I didn’t see one butterfly there.  [To which Jeremy Tatum adds:  And I went to Quick’s Bottom today – not a butterfly in sight.]

   Marie O’Shaughnessy visited Government House on June 5, where she saw
5 Cabbage Whites
1 Mourning Cloak
2 Western Tiger Swallowtails that were busy chasing one another.
1 Pale Tiger Swallowtail

Marie counted ten Cabbage Whites in the Martindale/Island View area on June 7.

Mourning Cloak Nymphalis antiopa  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Western Tiger Swallowtail  Pterourus rutulus   (Lep.:  Papilionidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

You wouldn’t think it would be at all difficult to distinguish between Western and Pale Tiger Swallowtails.  In fact, it is not unusual to come across a tiger swallowtail that one isn’t quite sure of.  Look at this one, for example, photographed by Aziza Cooper recently:

Tiger swallowtail  Pterourus sp. (Lep.  Papilionidae)   Aziza Cooper

   I wasn’t quite sure, writes Jeremy Tatum, so I sent it to a local butterflier, who writes:  That’s a very interesting one. The black markings are certainly those of Western Tiger and much too narrow for Pale Tiger. Over the years I’ve seen 3 or 4 Western Tigers with very pale yellow backgrounds but I don’t think any of them were quite this pale. I’ve often wondered whether the two species can hybridize though I’ve never seen any references in the literature to this happening. Conclusion: I would put it down as a Western Tiger though I wouldn’t feel 100% confident about that.

Another small detail, writes Jeremy:  The crescent near the tail of the hind wing is supposed to be “usually” yellow in the Western Tiger Swallowtail, and “usually” orange in the Pale Tiger Swallowtail.  This isn’t a totally reliable feature, but, for the record, the crescent on this one certainly isn’t orange.

Another possibility, besides possible hybridization, is that this is a “leucistic” Western Tiger Swallowtail, in which the yellow is replaced by white.

Comments by viewers are welcome.

Other butterflies seen by Aziza are:

On June 7, Mt. Tolmie summit had a Mourning Cloak and a Tiger Swallowtail at about 2 pm.  On June 8, the powerline near Hartland Landfill had 10 Western Spring Azures and one Tiger Swallowtail before 11 am.

On June 6,  Aziza Cooper photographed the bumble bee below at Cowichan Station.  Thanks to Steven Roias for identifying it as a male Bombus mixtus.

Male Bombus mixtus  (Hym.: Apidae)   Aziza Cooper