SOME COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF PEI: by Lawson Drake 
     
    
   
   
    
     Butterflies and skippers, which closely resemble butterflies, are among. 
     
     the most beautiful of small summer creatures. They are animals of the sun, 
     
     whether they are found in meadows, along country lanes, over garden flowers 
     
     or in forest glades. At rest or in flight they are visual treats to be 
     
     savoured on any bright day outdoors. 
     
    

    
     The classification of butterflies 
     
     and skippers varies a little from book to 
     
     book, but difference of opinion between 
     
     “lumpers” and “splitters” who determine 
     
     these matters need not concern us. A 
     
     widely accepted current scheme recognizes 
     
     seven families of butterflies and one 
     
     family of skippers. This is the scheme 
     
     followed here. The species named by no 
     
     means constitute a complete list of. 
     
     Prince Edward Island butterflies; they 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
    
   
   
    
     mkammmm are simply the ones a casual observer is 
     
     likely to encounter during summer 
     
     outings. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Papilionidae, or swallowtails, are the largest and most 
     
     spectacular butterflies, brilliantly coloured and active. They usually 
     
     have the rear corner of the hind wing elongated into a “tail,” hence the 
     
     name. The tiger swallowtail has yellow wings with black bars and edges. 
     
     It likes garden flowers but will also be found at mud puddles and manure 
     
     piles. It may be attracted to smoke. Since its caterpillars feed on 
     
     many common deciduous trees, it is essentially a forest species. Look . 
     
     for it as early as mid-June. The black swallowtail, as its name implies, 
     
     is a dark species. Its wings are black with two rows of yellow spots on 
     
     the margins. The female shows some blue between the yellow spots along 
     
     the margins. The larvae feed on parsley, celery, carrot and related 
     
     plants, making the adult an insect of the weedy wayside and kitchen 
     
     garden. It makes its appearance a little later in the season. 
     
    

    
     The Pieridae are the most common whites and yellows, medium-sized 
     
     butterflies familiar to everyone. Frequently there are colour 
     
     differences between sexes, the female being the more decorated with black 
     
     dots and borders on the wings. The yellow common sulphur is seen early 
     
     in the year, and gives rise to as many as three broods in a season. It 
     
     loves open fields and roadsides, and makes summer clover fields gay with 
     
     the flash of its wings. The pink-edged sulphur prefers scrubbier areas, 
     
     like blueberry barrens. The European cabbage butterfly is arguably the 
     
     best known butterfly. It is white with black wing markings and its 
     
     larvae feed on wild and cultivated crucifers, such as mustard and 
     
     cabbage. While common in cultivated areas, it may be making its way into 
     
     forests, to which it has already displaced our native white, the mustard 
     
     or grey-veined white, whose larvae feed on cresses and toothworts. 
     
    

    
     The Lycaenidae are small, fragile and brightly coloured, with 
     
     slender bodies and white-ringed antennae. They are commonly called 
     
     Coppers and blues, both aptly descriptive names. They are rapid flyers, 
     
     and often pugnacious defenders of their territories. The American copper 
     
     is a small species which shows the typical orange-red or coppery—brown 
     
    
   
   
    
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