Early July is one of the best times to look for butterflies. Common Milkweed flowers are usually hitting their peak, and this common roadside “weed” attracts all types of insects from the well-known Monarch butterfly to bees, moths, beetles, syrphid flies, and the insect predators – such as spiders, ambush bugs, and brown mantidflies – that feed on them. While monarchs require milkweed for egg-laying, other butterflies are attracted to milkweed for its nourishing nectar. It is great fun for a naturalist to walk among a decent-sized milkweed patch looking for skippers, hairstreaks, fritillaries, and other interesting species among the pretty pink flowers on a hot summer’s day. Spreading Dogbane is another plant that flowers in early to mid-July, and although less known, is just as attractive to pollinators, with clusters of white and pink bell-shaped flowers. Clumps of Spreading Dogbane flowers can hold a variety of feeding butterflies, bees, and other bugs, but there is one insect in particular that depends on its foliage as a source of food, the Dogbane Leaf Beetle. Dogbanes, like milkweeds, contain toxic chemicals that few species are capable of ingesting without being harmed. The Dogbane Leaf Beetle is one such organism, and once the plant ingested, it is then capable of releasing these toxins when disturbed by a potential predator. Its bright metallic colours that appear so beautiful to human eyes are in reality an example of aposematic coloration: they warn potential predators of its toxicity.
I’ve consistently found Dogbane Leaf Beetles in a stand of Spreading Dogbane at trail E4 in Marlborough Forest. I headed there on July 9th, a warm but overcast day. Fortunately the overcast clouds were not too thick to block out the sun’s glow entirely, and it was bright enough for photography. I easily found my target in the large patch of Spreading Dogbane in the clearing torn up with dirt bike tracks; the stand was in an area right next to the woods that was covered with sparse grass and other flowering vegetation. The beetles were colourful with their bright reds, golds and greens blending in metallic harmony:
The beetle’s scientific name, Chrysochus auratus, can be roughly translated as “made of gold.” Instead of gold, however, dogbane beetles receive their iridescent rainbow hues from structural coloration rather than pigments. Tiny micro-structures are layered within the exocuticle – an upper layer of the beetle’s exoskeleton, containing chitin and proteins – interfering with visible light and producing the lustrous colours that seem to change depending on the angle of viewing. Perhaps this is why I find them so fascinating – some appear more blue than green, or more red than gold! No matter how many photos I take, I can never seem to capture the complete spectrum of colours that these beetles display.
Once I finished admiring the beetles, I continued down the trail looking for dragonflies, butterflies, and other interesting insects. Shortly after I left the clearing I came across a small brownish skipper fluttering close to the surface of the trail. I thought it might be a Roadside Skipper, but when it landed I saw that it was something entirely different: a Northern Broken-Dash! This can be a difficult member of the skipper family to find, let along identify given its similarity to the much more common Dun Skipper; I don’t see them every year despite it being a butterfly of open fields and grassy meadows close to woodlands and forests. It has been reported in Burnt Lands Provincial Park, Stony Swamp, Marlborough Forest, and just outside the South March Highlands in the Ottawa region.
Its dull brown colours and the pale crescent on the underside of the hindwing can often lead to confusion with the Dun Skipper. However, its crescent is shaped like a “3” on the brown hindwing which is helpful in identifying it. The eponymous broken dash on the upper side of the forewing – really just the black stigma broken into two parts – can be harder to see. The head and thorax are greenish-yellow, which is uncommon in local skippers.
I made my way toward the marsh at the back of the trail, encountering Sedge Sprites, Marsh Bluets, Frosted Whitefaces, Chalk-fronted Corporals, a Belted Whiteface, and a pair of newly fledged Eastern Kingbirds with tiny white-tipped tails loudly calling to their parents for food. I shudder to think how many odes a family of four kingbirds could consume in a season!
In the rocky area where the trail ends in a T-section at the back I encountered a Common Wood Nymph perching on the ground, a couple of Little Wood Satyrs and Northern Pearly-eyes, and a Spring Azure, none of which were unusual. I walked a little further down the trail to the right, listening for birds, but turned around to head back after finding it very quiet. At the marsh I spotted something swimming in the water beyond a group of cattails and was surprised to see a young Pied-billed Grebe! Only immature birds have stripes on their faces.
I didn’t see much on the way back to my car, but when I stopped to check out a stand of milkweed along the road I did find this interesting beetle! The Strangalepta Flower Longhorn Beetle is not a new beetle for me, though I’ve never seen one in Ottawa before….I saw my first one in Nova Scotia last year on one of my many treks up and down the rural road on which our cottage was situated. While the larvae feed on various decaying conifers and hardwoods, the adults feed on the nectar of various flowers.
There is only one species in the genus Strangalepta, Strangalepta abbreviata, which makes it monotypic or monospecific. Occasionally called the Abbreviated Long-horned Beetle, this handsome beetle has two reddish-orange stripes down its back which may be variable in length or altogether absent. The name abbreviata refers to the shortened stripes on some of these beetles.
From there I drove over to Trail E6. I figured that it would be worth checking for butterflies given the Northern Broken-Dash flying at Trail E4. The little clearing about just a few minutes from the road is a great spot to watch for butterflies, and in this case it turned out one was watching me! I saw a Red Admiral fluttering over the road, and chased it for a bit because they haven’t been common this year and I wanted a photo. To my surprise, it turned, flew at me, then landed on my leg!
Butterflies sometimes land on people when attracted to chemicals they emit, in particular the salt in sweat secretions. That seems to be the case here as the proboscis is fully unfurled against my pant leg. It was getting quite hot and I’d worked up a sweat on my walk, which explains why it found my leg worth investigating! I’ve never had a Red Admiral land on me before, so it was quite something to watch it sit there for a good three or four minutes before something else flying about the clearing caught my attention, and I had to move on.
That something was a dragonfly, and I caught it handily with my net. To absolutely no one’s surprise it was a Brush-tipped Emerald, a common species on the trails north of Roger Stevens Drive and one of two I caught that day.
As there wasn’t much flying in the clearing, I headed deeper into the woods. There were at least two Blue-headed Vireos along the trail, as I heard one singing while a second one gave a scolding call. Later I heard two birds singing – I’m not sure how many there were in the area altogether. This is a difficult bird to find in Ottawa in the summer, and I’ve had it at Roger’s Pond one year suggesting they breed (or at least summer) in Marlborough Forest. Some other singing birds included Winter Wren, Wood Thrush, Veery, Eastern Towhee (calling only), Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler.
When I came to another opening I stopped to look at the milkweed and noticed a small grayish butterfly sitting on a leaf. Closer examination revealed it to be an Acadian Hairstreak! This small tailed butterfly can be identified by the prominent submarginal row of orange spots on the underside of the hindwing that continues over and beyond the blue tail spot. A row of round black spots just inside the orange spots is very conspicuous on the light gray background of the wings. Acadian Hairstreaks are found in open areas near willows, the host plant of their larvae.
I didn’t make it as far as the sedge meadow before turning around – I had only covered half the distance and was getting hot and hungry. Still, I checked the small butterfly clearing close to the entrance one last time and ended up being very happy that I did.
My first good find was a Coral Hairstreak perching on a milkweed leaf. This small brownish-gray hairstreak is also identified by the vivid and conspicuous row of orange spots on the outer margin of the hindwing, but lacks the tail and blue tail spot of other hairstreaks. This species lives in open areas where milkweeds grow – old fields, roadsides, pastures, and areas of secondary growth. The larvae feed on developing fruits of black cherry, chokecherry and plums.
A couple of dark butterflies fluttering along the edge of the trail caught my attention; one was a Common Wood Nymph, but the other was an anglewing. It took a long time for it to settle, and when it did I was able to see the convoluted scalloped edges of a Green Comma! I don’t often see these in Ottawa so I spent some time taking its photo.
I wanted to get a photo of the upper side, and only managed to get one with its wings partially spread. Still, you can see the two fused spots on the upper forewing in the middle of the U-shaped band of spots. Both the Gray Comma and the Eastern Comma have a line of five black spots forming an L-shape, the center of which is not fused. The Question Mark, an uncommon vagrant, has an extra spot at the end of the “L”.
Gray Commas are often seen resting on rocky surfaces to absorb the warmth of the sun or watch for intruders. This individual spent the entire time I was there flying from spot to spot along the trail.
Once I was done photographing the Green Comma I waded into the grass of the clearing. There was more Wild Parsnip here than I remembered previously, and I took care not to brush against the phototoxic plant. However, the skippers found nectaring on the clover were worth it. A worn Long Dash was not a surprise, but the Mulberry Wing was completely unexpected! I saw this skipper with a bright orange arrow on the hindwings slowly flying through the grasses. I followed it until it landed on a clover blossom and began to feed.
This species is not a strong flier and does not venture far from its native wetland area, where it depends on Carex sedges for a host plant. However, adults may stray to drier upland habitats in search of flowers to nectar on, and it looks as though that was exactly what this one was doing. I also took some photos of the upper side, which is dark brown with a median band of small orange spots.
Two Delaware Skippers were perching on plants in the meadow as well. These skippers are larger than the Mulberry Wing, and are bright yellowish-orange on the underside with no spots or markings to distinguish them. The upper side contains a black parallelogram (remember your shapes in geometry?) which is not always complete; the individual I photographed only had three of the four sides. Both males and females have black veins, thicker in the females than in the males. The pointed forewing is a good field mark to separate this from the smaller European Skipper, which is also bright orange below.
I was thrilled with the variety of butterflies in the clearing; although small, it has always been a great spot to photograph members of almost every butterfly family. I reluctantly left, heading back to the wide spot in front of the gate where I left my car. The area near the road can be good for butterflies too; I have seen a few different species nectaring on the flowers there. I gave the area a quick glance and immediately spotted two butterflies dancing together. Both were brownish, and I had to wait until they landed in order to identify them. I was unsure what this one was; iNaturalist identified it as a Crossline Skipper, but no one has verified it. Unfortunately this was the only photo I got of this individual.
The other was another Northern Broken-Dash. Fortunately this one alighted on the vegetation several times, giving me a couple of different views. I didn’t see the “3” on the underside of the hindwings, but I did see the yellow spots on forewings, including the central spots which are almost square. The leading edge of the forewing is dark orange, contrasting with the dark brown of the rest of the wing. This is a female, so the broken stigma – the line of scent scales that produces pheromones – is absent.
The upper side of the hindwing is also dark brown with a patch of dull orange in the center.
Happy to have found these two skippers, I got in the car and headed home. I hadn’t realized before that Marlborough Forest was such a good spot to find the less common skippers as well as the other families of butterflies, but finding the Mulberry Wing cemented it for me. I photographed 15 species of butterfly between trails E4 and E6, while I only photographed 11 odonate species. The juvenile birds were also great to see. Marlborough Forest is a real treasure trove for naturalists, with so many different creatures inhabiting its marshes and open fields and forests….each visit turns up something different!
The Pathless Wood 