2024 July 8 morning

   It was a very hot day yesterday for the July Butterfly Walk – probably too hot even for many butterflies.  Six participants braved the heat for the Walk.  Here is what we saw:

Mount Tolmie:
Lorquin’s Admiral – 2
Western Tiger Swallowtail – 2
Pale Tiger Swallowtail – 1
Cabbage White – 2

 Swan Lake:
Lorquin’s Admiral – 7
Western Tiger Swallowtail – 5
Cabbage White – 1
Essex Skipper – 15 or more

In addition, many dragonflies were seen at Swan Lake, including a Black Saddlebags.  Following is a selection of photographs taken during the Walk.

Pale Tiger Swallowtail Pterourus eurymedon  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Aziza Cooper

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Aziza Cooper

Essex Skippers Thymelicus lineola (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Gordon Hart

 Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Gordon Hart

Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Aziza Cooper

Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Gordon Hart

   Here is a tiny, tiny moth photographed by Ian Cooper on June 24 in Colquitz River Park.  It is almost certainly one of the smallest moths, in the Family Nepticulidae, possibly genus Stigmella.

Possibly Stigmella sp. (Lep.: Nepticulidae)  Ian Cooper

Kirsten Mills writes:     July 6^th, Jeff Gaskin and I went looking for butterflies near Mount Cokely and Mount Arrowsmith.  The butterflies we saw included the following  :   13 Clodius Parnassians, 1 Cedar Hairstreak, 1 Mourning Cloak, 1 Sulphur species possibly Western seen only by Kirsten,  Western and Pale Tiger Swallowtails,  9 Hydaspe Fritillaries, and several Essex Skippers.

At Cowichan Station,  we saw an immature male and an adult male Common Whitetail and a Western Pondhawk.  Butterflies included Western Tiger Swallowtail, Lorquin’s Admiral, Essex Skippers and Cabbage Whites.

  Male Common Whitetail Plathemis lydia  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Clodius Parnassian  Parnassius clodius  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Kirsten Mills

Hydaspe Fritillary  Argynnis hydaspe (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Kirsten Mills

Hydaspe Fritillary  Argynnis hydaspe (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Kirsten Mills

    This species was formerly called Speyeria hydaspe.   However, the ATC treats Speyeria merely as a subgenus of Argynnis, which is the genus used for the European large fritillaries.