There are 187 known species of butterflies in BC with 77 additional subspecies!
Sightings are recorded but are known to be wildly inaccurate unless the specimen was caught and/or carefully photographed.
Habitat loss is the biggest risk to the diversity of our butterflies in BC with agricultural spraying coming a close second.
It is important to note that while I do list possible host and nectar plants of these butterflies, very little is actually known about the native host plants of butterflies in BC. Many of the host and nectar plants listed as beneficial for butterflies are imported garden cultivars and not the true food sources for these pollinators. Hobby naturalist observations in our nature parks and wild spaces can go a long way to helping us understand how we can protect and preserve the incredible diversity of these delicate ‘flying flowers’.
Butterflies are notoriously difficult to identify without catching them however a little bit of general knowledge and awareness can give you a little thrill of excitement when you spot a butterfly and you can generally recognize which species you are seeing.
There are a few types we are all much more familiar with than you might think: blue’s, swallowtails, hairstreaks and fritillary’s are all easily identifiable based on their general characteristics. I made a field guide you can download below to get you started on your journey.
I made a mini field guide with 11 of the more commonly seen butterflies in Kamloops along with their favored nectar plants, their caterpillars and the caterpillar host plant.
You can download your copy here:
Kamloops butterflies and host plants
Stay tuned because my next project is a matching game 🙂
References:
- https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/TheButterfliesofBritishColumbia.html
- https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
- https://kamloopsnaturalistclub.com/
- http://www.nicolanaturalists.ca/projects/know-your-butterflies-and-moths-merritt-bc/