Butterflies

When people see a butterfly, they are likely to think of how beautiful that creature is, but there is so much more to Butterflies than just their beauty.

Angel Wing Butterfly

The Angel Wing Butterfly is one of the few Comma species found at lower elevations near the caterpillar host plant, stinging nettle. Adults overwinter in their territory and re-emerge during early spring. The hoary comma angel wing, pictured here is another primarily western species that can be found all over Vancouver Island. Read More….

Cabbage White Butterfly

The cabbage white butterfly overwinters as a pupa and emerges in early spring, it is one of the first butterflies of the season. When I see them, I know winter is truly over. They are a harbinger of spring just as much as the singing robin is. Read More….

Lorquins Admiral Butterfly

The Lorquin’s Admiral Butterfly has large bright-coloured wings. A deep warm brown makes up the base of the wings and their unmistakable fiery orange tips are beautiful. A line of small white rectangles runs along the topsides of both wings. Like other admirals, the size of this butterfly sets it apart with females being larger than their male counterparts. Read More….

Margined White Butterfly

The Margined White Butterfly is similar to the mustard white and replaces it in the West. The dark veins on the underside are grey-green and not dark green as in the Mustard White. They have a wingspan of up to 47 mm. Read More….

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

The Mourning Cloak Butterfly is a mid-sized butterfly that is brown and black on the top with a light yellow border. Next to the yellow border, there is a row of equally stunning blue dots. You can not mistake this butterfly. Read More….

Pacific Fritillary Butterfly

The Pacific Northwest has a large population of Pacific Fritillary Butterflies, they are very beautiful to observe. The wing’s upper side is typical of the Fritillary Butterflies. There are rows of black spots on a rusty orange background. The hind wing underside lacks prominent pale markings. Read More….

Painted Lady Butterfly

Painted lady butterflies are medium-sized, with a wingspan of about 5 cm. The topsides of their wings are orange with black blotches and white spots. Underneath, the wing colour is a beautiful combination of brown, pink, dark green, black and white. Read More….

Silvery Blue Butterfly

Silvery blue butterfly caterpillars have a special structure known as a honey gland, which secretes a sweet substance that attracts ants to feed on it. In what is known as a symbiotic relationship, the ants tend to the caterpillars by keeping them clean and protecting them from predators. These are beautiful little butterflies, quite awesome to observe. Read More….

Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

The western tiger swallowtail is a butterfly that roams the Pacific Northwest. The western tiger swallowtail is a member of the family Papilionoideae, which consists of other subspecies of swallowtail butterflies. Read More….

Pine White Butterfly

The upper side of the forewing of the western white butterfly has marginal markings that are lighter than the submarginal stripe. The forewing tip and hind wing have veins outlined with gray to green. the spring and fall forms have more prominent markings. The wing span is up to 6 cm. Read More….

There is so much more to them than meets the eye. Most butterflies prefer flowers that are pink, red, purple, or yellow and that are open all day, so plant these colours in your garden to attract them. Most butterflies fly during the day and at night they sleep in the grass or on the underside of a leaf. Butterflies can’t hear, but they can feel vibrations of the slightest kind. Female butterflies are bigger and live longer than males. Vancouver Island has quite a few butterflies that live here, they bring such beauty to our island.

A message from Bud

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