2024 August 10 morning

Aziza Cooper writes:  On August 8, on Mount Washington I observed nine species of butterflies:

Anise Swallowtail – 3
Anna’s Blue – 8
Boisduval’s Blue – 1
Arctic Blue- 1
Mariposa Copper – 5
Purplish Copper – 5
Hydaspe Fritillary – 10 to 15
Great Arctic – 1
Common Branded Skipper – 2 

The Anise Swallowtails and Great Arctic were at the summit. Arctic Blue was a little down from the top of the chair-lift. The others were seen both near the summit and at the lodge elevation.

Here are some of Aziza’s photographs.  We showed two of her photographs of the Arctic Blue in the August 8 posting.

Anna’s Blues  Plebejus (Lycaeides) anna  (Lep.:  Lycaenidae)  Aziza Cooper

Anna’s Blue Plebejus  (Lycaeides) anna  (Lep.:  Lycaenidae)  Aziza Cooper

 Note that the ATC treats Lycaeides as a subgenus within Plebejus.

Mariposa Copper  Tharsalia mariposa  (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Aziza Copper

Note the new genus.

Purplish Copper  Tharsalia helloides (Lep.: Lycaenidae)

Note the new genus.

We still haven’t had any reports this year of Purplish Coppers in the Southern Vancouver Island Birdwatching Area.

Lateral view of Hydaspe Fritillary  Argynnis (Speyeria) hydaspe   (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Aziza Cooper

Dorsal view of Hydaspe Fritillary  Argynnis (Speyeria) hydaspe     (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Aziza Cooper

Note that the ATC treats Speyeria as a subgenus within Argynnis.

Great Arctic  Oeneis nevadensis (Lep.: Nymphalidae- Satyrinae)  Aziza Cooper

We haven’t yet had any reports of the Great Arctic this year from within the Southern Vancouver Island Birdwatching Area, even though this is an even-numbered year.

Common Branded Skipper Hesperia comma  (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Aziza Cooper

   Hitherto in this site, we have included all records of Hesperia under the name Branded Skipper Hesperia comma.  From 2024 onwards, we are following the taxonomy of the ATC, which lists Hesperia comma  (which we may call Common Branded Skipper) and Hesperia colorado (which we may call Western Branded Skipper) as separate species.  The colony at Cordova (Saanichton) Spit is believed to be Hesperia colorado.  We haven’t had any reports from this colony, i.e. of this species, yet this year. The ones Aziza saw and photographed on Mount Washington are probably H comma.  In the United Kingdom, H. comma is called the Silver-spotted Skipper.  That name in North America is used for yet another species, in a different genus.

Some Words

Dorsal:      Of the back (i.e. from above).    Latin dorsum: back,    dorsalis:    of the back
Ventral:     Of the belly (i.e. from below).    Latin ventrum:   belly,    ventralis:  of the belly
Lateral:     From the side.                                Latin latus:     side,     lateralis:   of the side