American Dog Tick on Dandelion flower - Ick!

And now, a look at the dark side of prairie nature — an American Dog Tick (or Wood Tick) I saw today while I was out taking photographs of Dandelions and Early Blue Violets at the Condie Nature Refuge near Regina, Saskatchewan.

And yes, just seeing this image makes me itch! (I wore lovely light-coloured clothing and offered very little exposed skin to make myself as tick-safe as possible... If I look at this before I go out next time, though, I'll consider adding several additional helpings of DEET!)

American Dog Tick on Dandelion flower, waiting a meal... © SB

The marking on this tick's back indicate that this one is a Dog Tick, aka Wood Tick, and given its size, it's likely a female. Dog ticks aren't the species that carry the agent that causes Lyme disease, though I'm not convinced that any good can come of a tick bite! (For more on that, see tick-borne diseases at the link to CDC, below.)

Black-legged Ticks, or Deer Ticks, are the culprit for Lyme disease — although SaskHealth says they represent only about three per cent of Saskatchewan's ticks. Overall, the risk of contracting Lyme disease here in Saskatchewan is apparently low — but not zero. (You can read more on the Government of Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health Lyme Disease page.)

If you want to learn lots more about ticks — and really start your skin crawling — the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's Stop Ticks page is a good place to start. CDC also has information on Tick Removal. (Hint, tweezers really are best). And, Madisson County in New York also has a comprehensively itch-inducing tick page, with links to a Tick Bite Locator.

(For those asking — no, I did not get any ticks or tick bites today. As far as I yet know... And I may now need a second shower. Seriously, I'm way too suggestible to read this stuff, even the parts I've written myself! So this is it! Time to post and share the joy with others.)


What is this? An American Dog Tick, aka, a Wood Tick.

Location: Condie Nature Refuge, North of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.  

Photo date: May 22, 2013.

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Mourning Cloak Butterfly: Maroon and Blue Shimmer

Mourning Cloak Butterfly   © SB

Mourning Cloak Butterflies are common across Canada, but I never noticed them until this week when two Mourning Cloaks came to my attention.

The first, I saw and took pictures of in Kananaskis, Alberta, when I was getting a mountain break from the prairies; the second — which led to my butterfly's ID — a friend recognized and photographed outside her cabin near Regina, Saskatchewan. (Thanks, Donna!)

Mourning Cloak Butterflies are large, with a wingspan up to eight centimetres. And although they may look black at first glance, in good light, their wings shimmer maroon or purple brown, with iridescent blue spots and a ragged butter-yellow border.

This butterfly's common name refers to, yes, a mourning cloak — a garment apparently worn by someone, somewhere (perhaps in Scandinavia?), during a time of bereavement... (The only example I've so far found online was designed to honour the butterfly — thus raising the question, which came first? The butterfly, or the cloak?)

They appear to be native to North America, and unlike Monarchs, which migrate, Mourning Cloaks hibernate  —  or, as the Manitoba site NatureNorth.com says, "spend the winter in 'cryo-preservation.'"

Where I live, in Regina, Saskatchewan, they are considered common pests. (Who knew?) Mourning Cloaks are the first butterflies to appear in this prairie city in spring, and — in sufficient numbers — the larvae are said to defoliate branches.

(The City of Regina suggests removing the larvae by hand, or leaving them to birds and wasps to devour. Yum... The nearby US state of Montana is perhaps friendlier to Mourning Cloaks, and has designated them its official butterfly.)

Pest or mascot, Mourning Cloaks are unmistakably beautiful. 

What is this? Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa; in the UK, Camberwell Beauty)
Location: Common across Canada, including the prairies; photographed in Kananaskis, Alberta. 
Photo date: September 9, 2012. 

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Sulphur Butterfly on Blue Aster

Butterflies are frequent visitors to a wildflower garden in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan — Skippers, White Admirals, Monarchs — and, as photographed here, little yellow Sulphur butterflies. 

This Sulphur is feeding from the nectar of a blue violet Aster, a flower now starting to bloom. 

Yellow Sulphur Butterfly Feeding on Blue Aster   © SB

What is this? Sulphur Butterfly

Location: Royal Saskatchewan Museum's Native Plant Garden, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Photo date:  July 12, 2012.

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Orange Skipper Butterflies on Purple Flowers

Skipper butterfly feeding on flowers
(Note the long proboscis sipping)  © SB 

Tiny skipper butterflies fed on wildflowers and rested in the grass beside Wascana Creek in Regina last week.

Skippers as a group are easy to identify because their furry bodies are so large in proportion to their wings, at least compared to many other butterflies.

They are also very small — overall, these butterflies are less than an inch long. They were tricky to snap pictures of because they rarely paused long as they skipped from blossom to blossom.

There are many different kinds of skippers, and I'm not really sure what kind sips from our Regina flowers. 

However, the dark rim and markings on their wings look like Delaware Skippers. (Here's their range map, and yes, it includes Saskatchewan.) Perhaps someone who knows will comment here. 

Skipper butterfly on a stalk of grass  © SB

Top view, Skipper butterfly   © SB

What are these?  Skipper butterflies on alfalfa or wild purple vetch. (Perhaps Delaware Skippers.) 

Location: Along Wascana Creek, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Photo date: July 5 and 6, 2012.  

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Blue Damselflies in the Garden

Glowing brown eyes of a blue damselfly © SB

Blue damselflies have arrived in my Regina backyard, feeding on (something in?) the grass and oregano.

I managed to get a couple of pictures of these quickly flitting — and very tiny (so difficult to focus) — insects. 

There are many kinds of damselflies. This, I know, because I have a copy of Dragonflies and Damselflies in the Hand. (Hutchings and Halstead, Nature Saskatchewan.)

And that book's focus is Saskatchewan's Boreal Forest, for which it lists at least nine kinds of damselflies; who knows how many others are here in the south of the province, on the Prairie? 

Well, someone no doubt does  — just not me.

So when I write, Blue, please understand that I mean Blue in its most generic, colour-descriptive sense. Because these are  Blue. 

Except for their oddly yellow-brown eyes. 

Blue damselfly on grass blade © SB  

What are these?  Blue damselflies   
Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Photo date: June 28, 2012.  

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Purplish Copper Butterfly on Canada Goldenrod

A summer image to banish the cold: Purplish Copper Butterfly on Canada Goldenrod.

And all those colours in the insect's name? That's its full name, not just its description. I searched for this butterfly by colour, patterns, wing shape, spots and location, and from that, identified the Purplish Copper (aka Lycaena helloides). 

This butterfly is found in Saskatchewan — and from the Great Lakes area across the Prairies/Plains to B.C. and California.

Purplish Copper on Canada Goldenrod 

Oddly, one of my best sources of information, with a clear confirming image, was based somewhere this butterfly is, in fact, endangered: In Ohio. (The Toledo Zoo houses the last population in the state.)

Do we always value what we;re losing — or don't have — more than what flutters frequently around us?

What is this? Purplish Copper Butterfly, aka Lycaena helloides, on Canada Goldenrod
Location: Last Mountain Lake Wildlife Area,Saskatchewan. 
Photo dates: September 17, 2011. 

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Big blue darner mating dragonflies

Big blue darner — what a treat! © SB 

Near Regina, Saskatchewan: The blue and gold flash of this big blue darner dragonfly was a late summer treat — especially when it stayed still long enough for a photograph, and when I caught a mating pair with my lens a few days later.

The pair below are in what's called the wheel — a position they can maintain while perched or in flight. (And yes, this pair were on another tree before they kindly flew to this one, which had better light.)

Big blue darners in wheel position © SB 

I don't pretend to fully understand what's happening here, except that the male is the one on top, clinging to the branch, and the female is the one below, clinging to him. The oddest part is that he is clutching her behind her head, perhaps to keep her from escaping before the deed to be done.

For more on dragonfly mating, I like the series of shots (and explanations) by Alistair Fraser, a Kootenay Lake nature blogger and great photographer in his Sex in the Park post.

And for more about dragonflies in Saskatchewan, Nature Saskatchewan has a great new book, Dragonflies & Damselflies in the Hand, by Gord Hutchings and David Halstead (who takes amazing dragonfly photos).


What are these? Big blue darner dragonflies. (I'd thought from the large, pale, thorasic stripes that these may be Sedge Darners... but David Halstead e-mailed to say that although it's difficult to tell, these are most likely to be Lance-Tipped Darners. He says these are fairly common on the prairies.)  
Location: Pair, Hidden Valley Nature Refuge, Saskatchewan (near Craven); single, top: Condie Nature Refuge (near Regina, Saskatchewan). 
Photo dates: Pair, September 5, 2011; single, top: September 3, 2011. 
 

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Damselflies: Condie Nature Refuge

Bluet Damselfly -- with startling grin.  © SB 

Condie Nature Refuge, near Regina, Saskatchewan: Damselflies are the tiny dancers of the Dragonfly world, so slight that my camera — even the new DSLR — struggles to find a still, solid point at the centre of their world on which to focus. Only two or three centimetres long, with a wingspan about the same, damselflies' needle-like abdomens must measure a few millimetres at most. (Not that I could catch one of these delicate creatures to try that — I have enough trouble trying to capture their image!

The first damselfly, at the top of this post, was stunning, a light shimmering turquoise blue, based on which, I've decided it must be a Bluet... Of course, nothing's easy for the non-biologist, and as it turns out, there are many different kinds of Bluets. Close-up shots of rear male appendages are apparently helpful for identification, but that takes photography to a whole new level.  

Take a minute to click to enlarge that Bluet — is it just me, or does its face bear a strange resemblance to the scary grins of the little creatures in the Gremlins horror movies of the 1980s/90s?

Continuing with the blue theme, the next two damselflies have bulging blue eyes — the first looked very opaque, while the second reflected a darker translucence. Again, these are tiny insects — shorter than the top two joints on my little finger, and I have very small hands.  

Damselfly, Boggy Creek, Condie Nature Refuge © SB

Damselfly, Condie Nature Refuge, Saskatchewan © SB

The final damselfly was paler, with a slightly brown cast overall, and very easy-to-see reddish spots at the top and end of its wings, similar to the damselfly immediately above.

Damselfly clinging to Thistle stalk © SB

All photos can be clicked to enlarge — and if you do, you'll see the amazing hairs on this last tiny guy's legs...


What are these? Damselflies — which look like tiny dragonflies, but are a slightly different species. 
Location: Condie Nature Refuge, about 12 km north of Regina.
Photo Date: August 27 & 28, 2011.

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Cabbage White Butterfly on Canada Thistle

Cabbage White on Canada Thistle, Regina, SK © SB

The most abundant butterflies in our Regina, SK (Canada) neighbourhood this summer are Cabbage Whites, fluttering through the grass and garden.

Especially the garden. These delicate-looking butterflies love vegetable gardens. As the Government of Canada says of Cabbage Whites on its Canadian Biodiversity website:

"Its bright white colour and fondness for gardens make it one of the butterflies familiar to anyone even mildly interested in nature."

We're not trying to grow cabbages this year — or other Brassicas  — and we're not growing thistles, either. This photograph was taken beside a public path/parkway along Wascana Creek a few days ago.  

Location: Along Wascana Creek, Regina, Saskatchewan. 

Photo Date: August 15, 2011. 

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Ladybugs in Leaf Mulch -- It's Spring!

ladybugs in leaf mulch (and snow mould) © SB

As soon as the snow melted last spring, I raked the front yard and bagged the leaves for the alley dumpster. That was when I realized I was an eco-terrorist. Not only was I not composting, but hundreds of ladybugs had hatched or hibernated or whatever it is that ladybugs do under a winter cover of decay. Half-wakened, they sluggishly crawled over the leaves, and up and down the inside of my plastic bags. They didn't deserve to be thrown in the garbage. They deserved a garden. 

This year, most of the leaves in our yard miraculously vanished last fall (G's retirement may have helped). The snow is now gone, and all that remains of the old leaves is a small wind-tossed strip along the hedge. This morning, I eased back parts of that shelter, and in every spot found two or three visible ladybugs, with three or four more appearing as soon as the sun warmed the exposed layer of soil and mulch.   

The white dots and filaments on the bugs and leaves in the picture are a kind of snow mould — highly allergenic for lucky people like me whose eyes itch, lids swell, sinuses congest... But during yesterday's walk around the flooded park, I'd realized it was allergy season, and so I took allergy pills before my ladybug search. 

If I'd realized how much mould there was, I might have thought twice about doing this. But I really wanted to see if the hidden ladybugs were an annual gift, a sign that spring is here, and summer will soon follow. 

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