Diario del proyecto CVC Butterfly Blitz 2022

Welcome to our second Observation of the Week (OOTW) for the 2022 CVC Butterfly Blitz. I’m sure you’re as excited as us to see the change in weather! As the days get warmer, a greater diversity of butterfly species will soon appear in the watershed. We’ve already gotten almost 50 observations of 13 butterfly species, and we’re looking forward to seeing what else you find.

This week we’ve chosen a Mustard White observed by Natalie (@huronia). Natalie spotted this butterfly while eating lunch but gave up some of her break time to make the observation. “I love taking pictures of butterflies, but the mustard white is one that always seems to escape me. Every time I see them I recognize their pure white upper wing surface, but they never seem to land for a picture. So, when this one flapped by while I was having lunch I told myself to be patient and ready with my camera. When it finally landed I dove into action trying to take as many pictures as I could, and I felt really lucky to be able to watch it move from flower to flower. I was dedicated to trying to get good pictures of the veins on the underside, so I was lying flat on the ground to get the right angle. But, that’s what it takes sometimes to get the right shot!”

Natalie focused on getting the right angle because there is another species in our area that can be confused with the Mustard White—the West Virginia White. Getting a good view of both sides of the wings is important to tell them apart. Mustard White has distinct greenish-grey lines along the veins on the underside of the wings, while West Virginia White has fuzzier and lighter markings (see below). Without a view of the underside, you might only identify it to species—like in this observation. This is a reminder of why it’s important to take photos of your butterfly from different angles.

The West Virginia White is a species at risk in Ontario. No one has seen it in the Credit River Watershed since the 1990s. Laura (@lltimms), the Scientific Coordinator of the Butterfly Blitz, spent a week in early May hunting for West Virginia Whites and didn’t find a single one! They’re only around in the early spring and live in natural woodlands where toothwort plants (their host plants) and other early spring flowering species grow. We’d love to hear about it if you think you may have seen one, so please get in touch!

Like West Virginia White, Mustard Whites live in intact, natural forest habitats. The spread of Garlic Mustard into our woodlands has affected both butterfly species. Garlic Mustard is an introduced plant species that is closely related to the native hosts plants of these butterflies. Female Mustard White and West Virginia Whites will get fooled into laying eggs on them. Unfortunately, their caterpillars don’t grow well when they eat Garlic Mustard and eggs laid on these plants won’t successfully develop into adult butterflies.

Though the Mustard White is not a species at risk, it is still a somewhat uncommon butterfly in our area—we love seeing your observations of this species in the Butterfly Blitz. Through your efforts, we are learning more about where in the Credit River Watershed we can find species like the Mustard White. Thank you, and happy butterflying!

Written by @lltimms, Senior Specialist in Natural Heritage, CVC and @kristenvalencia, Program Assistant in Community Outreach, CVC

Welcome to the 3rd Observation of the Week (OOTW). This past week our weather went from extreme heat to cooler temperatures during the weekend. The butterflies were out flying despite these extremes, and you have all been making some wonderful observations. We now have over 100 observations of 28 species in our project!

For this OOTW, we have chosen this Dreamy Duskywing observed by Bev (@bevlynn99). Bev has been involved in the Butterfly Blitz for a few years and even won the award for the best photo in 2021. She’s made 14 observations of 11 species this year, and may be on track to win most species in 2022–way to go, Bev!

Skippers are hard to ID, especially duskywings. They aren’t as easy to spot as a Monarch, but there are a few tricks to help with separating the Dreamy from other duskywings. Most other duskywing species have a series of white dots lining the top wing. The Dreamy Duskywing got its name because it doesn’t have this group of dots, suggesting their “eyes” are closed. A Dreamy Duskywing will have one white dot on their top wing, or it will lack them entirely.

See the images below, comparing the Dreamy Duskywing (left) and Wild Indigo Duskywing (right). Can you see the dots on the Wild Indigo Duskywing?

Dreamy Duskywings are found in many environments as they are habitat generalists–they just need to be somewhere near a woodland. This is because their caterpillars feed on poplar, willow, and birch leaves as their host plants.

About this observation, Bev says: “After a slow start to spring it was exciting to finally see so many butterflies emerging this past week. I'm fortunate that I can work from home, which means more free time to get outside! I was out for my usual lunchtime walk when I spotted this beautiful little brown duskywing fluttering about. It landed on the path in front of me and spread its wings for the perfect photo op. After uploading to iNat, I was delighted to find that it was a dreamy duskywing as I hadn't seen one yet. I'm also enjoying everyone else's exciting finds and looking forward to seeing more.”

Fun fact: most observations of the Dreamy Duskywing in the watershed are from Butterfly Blitz participants. Thanks to your efforts, we are learning more about where this species and all the other butterflies in the watershed can be found.

Lastly, we have some exciting news to share!

Please join us on Saturday, June 25th for CVC’s annual one-day butterfly count. During this event, we will identify and count all the butterfly species at a natural area in the upper Credit River Watershed. The data we collect is an official butterfly census and will be submitted to the North American Butterfly Association for publication in their annual report. Please find more details and register here.

Taking part in the butterfly count might give you a good chance to challenge Bev on the leaderboard for most species. 😊

Thanks for reading & happy butterflying!

Written by @lltimms, Senior Specialist in Natural Heritage, CVC and @kristenvalencia, Program Assistant in Community Outreach, CVC

Hi CVC Butterfly Blitz 2022 project members,

We have a couple of quick updates.

(1) You’re invited to our second event of the year! On Saturday, June 25th from 10am-2pm, we will take part in a butterfly count at select CVC properties in the upper watershed. The data we collect is an official butterfly census and will be submitted to the North American Butterfly Association for publication in their annual report.

You can find more details and register for free at this link. Registration will close on June 21st at 12pm.

(2) You may have noticed that I will add an observation field of "insect life stage: adult" to your butterfly observations. There are a couple of reasons that I do this. I go through every observation added to the project—so that I can help add identifications, see what butterflies are being found, and to help choose the OOTW. Adding the life stage helps me to know that I’ve looked at the observation.

In addition, knowing the life stage of an observation can be very helpful for certain analyses. Adding the life stage as an observation field makes it easier to use when the data is downloaded from iNaturalist, compared to adding the life stage in the annotations section. This is why I may have added the life stage as an observation field even if you’ve already added it as an annotation.

As always, please reach out if you have questions.

Thanks
The Butterfly Blitz team
Laura, Lindsey & Kristen

Hello Butterfly Blitzers! Our project is now at close to 200 observations of 32 species. It’s getting tougher to choose just one observation to highlight each week – keep up the great work!

This week’s OOTW is an introduced species, the this European Common Blue, observed by Laurie (aka @betcrooks). This species was first observed in the Credit River Watershed last year, also by Laurie!

Laurie has been an avid participant of the butterfly blitz since 2019. Her butterfly observations often include interesting details on butterfly behaviour and the plants they interact with. She also runs her own blog, where she shares her findings.

Laurie says: “I like to watch butterflies, and everything alive, on slow-paced walks along a bike trail through an overgrown meadow and woodlot near my home. I have a telephoto lens to take butterfly photos from the trail (Ick, ticks!). I take many shots of flying butterflies and often accidentally get a clear photo for an id.”

Laurie has learned plenty through her experiences in identifying butterflies. She describes her adventures of learning how to identify blues:

“When I first started identifying butterflies, I tried to get the perfect photo of the top of the wings. I soon discovered, though, that it is the undersides of the wings that help identify the small blue butterflies in Mississauga. The trail near my home was home to three different types: Silvery Blues, Azures and Eastern-tailed Blues. As of last year, a fourth blue type has arrived: European Common Blues.

The European Common Blue was first discovered in Canada in the Montreal area in 2007. The species has been increasing in population size and spreading to new locations, including into Ontario, over the past few years. However, a study from the University of Ottawa found that the dispersal of European Common Blues may be limited by the how far the adult butterflies can fly. Females fly an average of 60-100 m, while some males can make it up to 400 m. This might be good news, as some predicted that they would quickly spread throughout the range of their host plant, Bird’s-foot Trefoil – another introduced species.

Laurie is also interested in keeping track of how European Common Blues are spreading. About this butterfly, she noted: “This is a female European Common Blue. Its front and hind wings on one side have a rectangular hole in the margin. I am sorry to see wing damage, but I use it to identify the individual when I meet it again. I can then estimate how long an individual lives and whether it stays in a small territory or moves long distances. I've already seen this exact butterfly three days later only a few metres away from where we first met.”

“I'm curious whether the females routinely fly long distances, "dotting" eggs as they travel, or whether they prefer to stay in a small area and each generation gradually moves out widening their colony's range. […] This one female supports the gradual widening approach is at work. But if later this summer European Common Blues start appearing in back yards and roadsides for a day or two then disappearing, I will have another clue to ponder.”

iNaturalist observations can help researchers and curious butterfliers to understand more about the European Common Blue and many other species. Keep making butterfly observations and you too can help build our knowledge. As Laurie says, “There is always so much to learn and wonder about while watching these small colourful insects.”

Thanks for reading and happy butterflying!

Written by @lltimms, Senior Specialist in Natural Heritage, CVC and @kristenvalencia, Program Assistant in Community Outreach, CVC

Welcome to the 5th Observation of the Week (OOTW). We are just over one month into the project and have reached over 250 observations of 35 species.

This week’s OOTW is a viceroy, observed by Darryl (aka: @darrylgwynne). Darryl says, “This was my first butterfly count of the season (data yet to be uploaded!) and was taken in the first part of the 5km walk […]. I thought the butterfly seemed too small for a monarch (which I haven’t seen on my walk yet). Luckily it landed close-by and posed for a photo which was then identified by iNaturalist.”

Besides their size, a key visual difference between a viceroy and a monarch is the line across a viceroy’s hind wing. See the photos below for a colourful comparison.

Often, when talking about viceroys, the topic quickly changes to monarchs. After all, monarchs are a poster species for pollinators and a very familiar butterfly in our area. However, there is certainly more to a viceroy than its differences to the monarch.

For example, did you know:

• Viceroys don’t migrate, they overwinter as young caterpillars and will roll a leaf into a tight tube to hide inside until spring arrives. This leaf tube is called a hibernaculum.
• Viceroy caterpillars eat willows, poplars, and cottonwoods. These tree species grow in wet areas like marshes, meadows, and wetlands – so these are also the best place to see viceroys flying.
• A viceroy’s flight pattern differs from a monarch’s. A monarch’s flight is float-like, whereas a viceroy will flap-flap-glide in comparison.
• Viceroys were once considered to be Batesian mimics. With this kind of mimicry, viceroys would trick predators into thinking that they were poisonous and distasteful, like monarchs, because of their similar appearance. But in recent years scientists have discovered that viceroy butterflies are actually also poisonous and distasteful to predators. This makes them Mullerian mimics, which is the name for the kind of mimicry when two or more species copy each other’s warning signals for their mutual benefit.
• Viceroy caterpillars are also mimics – they look like bird droppings!

Fun fact: Pollinator week is June 20th- 26th. Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated in support of pollinator health. The Pollinator Week citizen science project on iNaturalist is hosted by the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign's (NAPPC) Pollinator Communications Taskforce. During this week, your butterfly observations will be automatically added to the North American Pollinator project on iNaturalist.

Have fun, keep butterflying, and we look forward to seeing those registered out at the Butterfly Count this weekend!

Written by @lltimms, Senior Specialist in Natural Heritage, CVC and @kristenvalencia, Program Assistant in Community Outreach, CVC

Welcome to the 6th Observation of the Week (OOTW). We’re getting close to 400 observations, and collectively we’ve seen 42 species – way to go!

This past weekend, we took part in a North American Butterfly Association (NABA) Butterfly Count. Thanks to all our awesome participants who joined us and persevered through the very hot day: @bob15noble, @donscallen, @carl-adam, @c-elliott, @fozia, @patrick2008 & family, and @greenookgladelh & family! We found 161 individuals of 21 species over the course of the 4-hour event.

Our event was so full of great finds that we couldn’t choose a single OOTW. So, we’re highlighting the entire count! Although we didn’t take pictures of every observation, you can see some of our finds by viewing this collection from the event. Which one do you think is the most interesting?

There were a few finds that our butterfly count teams were particularly excited about. On Kristen’s team, Bob (@bob15noble) found two Bronze Coppers – these beautiful wetland butterflies are uncommon in our area. Laura’s team saw a Giant Swallowtail, netted by Alan – this is the largest butterfly species in Canada! There was also a White Admiral that took a liking to Patrick (@patrick2008), while Corin (@greenookgladelh) caught about a zillion Common Ringlets.

Our most observed species during the count was the European Skipper. This is not surprising, as this introduced butterfly can be very abundant in grassy open areas – which are common at Warwick Conservation Centre, where we held the count.

Warwick Conservation Centre is one of CVC’s administrative offices, and is normally closed to the public. The butterfly count provided a special opportunity to survey this area, which offers a great variety of butterfly habitats – including meadow, wetland, and woodland – allowing many different types of butterfly species to thrive.

One of the best things about the butterfly count was seeing the knowledge shared and connections made between participants. We look forward to continuing to build these connections throughout our summer events. Don’t forget to register for our next butterfly hikes in July and August:

• Wilcox Conservation Area Butterfly Hike
• Rattray Marsh Conservation Area Butterfly Hike

Written by @lltimms, Senior Specialist in Natural Heritage, CVC and @kristenvalencia, Program Assistant in Community Outreach, CVC.