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:
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
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