… and Moths
Click on the links below to access:
- 2023 butterfly counts in Southwestern Ontario
- Reports of past butterfly counts
- Other organizations interested in butterflies and moths
- Online resources for identifying butterflies and moths
2023 Butterfly Counts in Southwestern Ontario
- Sunday, July 2, Skunk’s Misery
- Sunday, July 30, Clear Creek
- Sat. July 1 (2), Pinery Provincial Park & N.Lambton Brenda Kulon, (519) 869-2833, kulon@cogeco.ca. Counters should arrive by 8:30 to register and get on a team. Meet outside the Nature Administrative Building. Wear hats, bring bug spray (ticks), a hat, long socks, long pants (for poison ivy). Bring a lunch please.
Other Organizations
- Toronto Entomologists’ Association https://www.ontarioinsects.org/
- North American Butterfly Association https://www.naba.org/
- eButterfly https://www.e-butterfly.org/
Online Resources
- Check the websites of the organizations
- Use iNaturalist to help with species identification of your photos
Please send corrections and suggestions for addition content to Glenn Berry, nlwebguy@gmail.com.
Where and When
Look in almost any park or public garden with flowers, which means mostly in the summer. You may start to notice that some flowers are popular with many species, while some species seem to specialize. You will be rewarded when you visit the same area one or two weeks later.
Toolkit
If you plan to wade through deep grass, beware of ticks. At a minimum, tuck your pants into to your socks.
Much of the time, you can get a good photo of a butterfly when it is feeding on a blossom with a mobile phone’s camera. Of course, you can get more and better photos with fancier camera gear.
Common Butterflies in London – A Baker’s Dozen
The 13 most frequently reported butterfly species in London, Ontario, in iNaturalist. Larger species and more urban species may generate more reports.
Common Name | Number of Observations |
Monarch | 312 |
Black Swallowtail | 174 |
Small White (Cabbage White) | 114 |
Mourning Cloak | 105 |
Red Admiral | 88 |
Eastern Comma | 73 |
Red-spotted Purple | 73 |
Northern Crescent | 70 |
Viceroy | 70 |
Silver-spotted Skipper | 69 |
Question Mark | 61 |
Eastern Giant Swallowtail | 58 |











Additional butterflies you are likely to see on a butterfly count in Middlesex County.
(Canadian or Eastern) Tiger Swallowtail
Clouded Sulphur
Orange Sulphur
Great Spangled Fritillary
Tawny Emperor
Baltimore Checkerspot
Pearl Crescent
Northern Crescent
Appalachian Brown
Little Wood-Satyr
Long Dash Skipper
Northern Broken-Dash
European Skipper (Essex Skipper)
Delaware Skipper
Banded Hairstreak
Eastern Tailed Blue
Summer Azure