Because it tends to stay cool and wet, Western Washington is not a butterfly haven, lepidopterist Dr. Robert Michael Pyle said.
“They are cold-blooded insects. They depend on the warmth of the sun to get their energy,” he said. “Where we are, it’s not a terribly warm place.”
That’s why summer is the best time for us to try to spot local butterflies. We consulted “Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest” and its authors, Pyle and Caitlin LaBar, as well as several other butterfly clearinghouses (chiefly the website Butterflies and Moths of North America, www.butterfliesandmoths.org) for the following sampler of butterflies you may find either right in your own yard or nearby park or trail, or a little farther away in the forests and slopes of scenic spots like Silver Star Mountain, Yacolt Burn State Forest, Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Columbia River Gorge. LeBar kindly provided many excellent photos.
Many of the following have several broods per year, with new arrivals appearing in spring, early summer and late summer.
The skipper family of butterflies has that name because they fly in a quick, herky jerky, stop-and-go manner. While commoner east of the Cascades than in Southwest Washington, silver-spotted skippers are instantly recognizable. They have a wingspan of 2 inches or more, and are chocolate- or black-brown, with brassy gold patches and jagged silver marks. “Big and flashy,” LaBar said.
Far more easily found in Clark County is the fuzzy woodland skipper. “Super abundant in August-September,” LaBar said. “People tend to notice it in their yards and everywhere in the woods.” It’s orange or tan with brown margins and dark diagonal streaks across the dorsal (top) front wings, and is 1 inch or larger.
Frequently spotted in suburban woods, gardens and roadsides, the ubiquitous Western tiger swallowtail is often confused with the monarch thanks to its similarly bold yellow-and-black tiger stripe pattern. (Easiest way to tell the difference: The Western tiger swallowtail is yellow, not orange.)
Margined white is a bright butterfly — entirely white or light greenish on the underside, wings potentially lined with gray or black — of about 2 inches. Find it in cool, moist forests at the edge of development. It’s sometimes confused with the cabbage white, but usually lacks the distinct black wing spots that cabbage has.
Echo azure is “the most common blue butterfly in Southwest Washington, and often the first one seen in spring,” LaBar said. Males are a chalky or pale blue above, with white-charcoal fringe, and frosty white below. Females have large black wing borders and less blue. Its wingspan is about 1 inch. Its population peaks in April and August.
Vancouver Lake trails are where one genuine rarity can be found: the Eastern tailed blue. It’s so rare we don’t even have a photo to share, but we can compare the similar Western tailed blue. The Eastern is around 1 inch. Males are brilliant blue on top and females turn blue in spring to brown in summer. The underside is gray with a black bar and black-and-orange spots. The wing tips are hairy. The Western is slightly larger, purplish-blue, with less spotting below.
Purplish copper males are mostly dark brown and females mostly orange with a refracting effect that brings out the amethyst-purple. It’s about 11/2 inches and can be abundant in this area.
Intricately patterned both above (orange-brown with black patches and spots) and below (olive-tan with blue “eyespots”), the painted lady is 2 to 3 inches. Enjoy watching as they fan their wings slowly. (In 1992, Interstate 5 in southern California was closed because of a massive swarm of painted ladies that created unsafe driving conditions.)
Hydaspe fritillary has rounded wings with a span of 2 inches. Males are deep red-orange above with heavy dark bars and wing fringes. Females are yellower. Likes sunny, moist forest edges and hilltops.
An arrestingly dark appearance makes mourning cloak instantly recognizable. Above, it’s velvety chocolate-to-maroon with blue spots. Below, it’s a weirdly rough, barklike black, all fringed in ragged yellow.
Pyle and LeBar call moths “honorary butterflies.” They tend to be smaller and less colorful. Butteflies fold their wings when resting while moths rest with wings spread. Here are two common months that are easily confused with butterflies.
Cinnebar moth is a European native that was introduced here “to battle tansy ragwort with its hungry caterpillars,” Pyle writes. It has bold red stripes and patches on a black background.
Caenothuths Silkmoth is red to brownish with black lines and elongated comma-like spots on wings. Its wingspan is as large as 5 inches.
“Moths offer their own particular fascination, charm and beauty,” Pyle and LaBar write. “There are many more of them than butterflies (especially in Western Washington and Oregon), and they are ever so much more poorly known.”
