A Brief Guide to the Butterflies of Summer

Novelist Vladimir Nabokov adored butterflies. I can understand that. Butterflies are regular visitors in my garden, but I don’t know anyone locally who can identify the various species we see in Encino, so I hope the following is helpful to those who wonder. Usually the first butterflies I see, as early as February or March, are Tiger Swallowtails and Mourning Cloaks and Painted Ladies.

Swallowtails are those large yellow and black butterflies that float through the neighborhood.  

Mourning Cloaks are also large – black butterflies with a yellow rim at the bottom of the wings. I saw hundreds of their pupae at Taft High School a few months ago – they seem to have adopted the school.

Painted Ladies are the most common butterfly in the world and one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen is tens of millions of them migrating north about 6-7 years ago. Driving on the 101 as hundreds flew over at any one time was surreal.

By summer I usually see Gulf Fritillaries and Skippers and the occasional Monarch, as well as the ubiquitous Cabbage Whites. Other occasional visitors to the garden are more discreet – smaller Funereal Duskywings, Blues and Hairstreaks.

Photo credits from Wikipedia - Swallowtail: Kathy Zimmerman (in Montana), Mourning Cloak: Stemonitis (in Austria), Painted Lady: Anne Toal.