Oregon and Washington Butterfly Photos - Swallowtails and Whites
by Will Cook
Here's a selection of images from a trip to the Portland, Oregon area, July 29-August 9, 2006. I ranged as far as Mt. St. Helens (Washington), Bend, and the NW Oregon coast (which was lacking in butterflies). Locals say that 2006 was a very poor year for butterfly numbers, and I believe them, though I still saw plenty of cool stuff. I also found a couple of odonates, too, which are appended at the end of the Skippers page. All photos were taken using a Nikon CoolPix 8800, the majority with a Nikon 4T close-up lens attached. The camera settings are encoded in the EXIF data in each jpg image, readable with image browsing programs such as the free one I recommend, FastStone. Identification help is appreciated!
Swallowtails and Whites | Coppers | Hairstreaks | Blues | Nymphalids | Skippers
Papilionidae - Parnassians and Swallowtails
| Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) I saw incredibly few swallowtails during my trip. This is the only species I saw up close! The one Clodius Parnassian I saw was unfortunately a brief flyby. |
Pieridae - Whites and Sulphurs
| Pine White (Neophasia menapia) Wow - what a stunner! Pine Whites were quite common here near the Santiam Pass. Though most of them stayed in the treetops, a number came down to nectar, such as this individual nectaring on Giant Chinkapin (Chrysolepis chrysophylla). Chinkapin was the most popular nectar source in the area. The round thing is a gall. |
| Pine White (Neophasia menapia) This one is nectaring on dogbane (Apocynum sp.), another one of the favorite local nectar sources. |
| Margined White (Pieris marginalis) One of about three species I saw on this sightseeing trip, Margined Whites were quite common here. I didn't come across any on the rest of the trip. This species is often lumped into Mustard White (Pieris napi). |
| Margined White (Pieris marginalis)
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| Margined White (Pieris marginalis) This one narrowly cheated death! |
| Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) This new refuge is very close to Sherwood, where I was visiting my sister. The first day of the trip I excitedly took a photo of the first butterfly I saw, hoping it might be some exotic Western species. Exotic it turned out to be... invasive exotic. |
| Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Cabbage Whites are abundant in this former cow pasture. The brown spot is some sort of imperfection in the wing. |
| Sulphur (Colias sp.) This is the only sulphur I saw on the entire trip that sat still long enough for a photo. Not in the best shape, but I'll take it! Jonathan Pelham says this does not look a Pink-edged (the VHW discal spot is wrong). It would have been nice to photograph the Pink-edged Sulphurs Dave McNeese and I found on a trip to Mt. Hood, but they could only be stopped by Dave's net. |
Swallowtails and Whites | Coppers | Hairstreaks | Blues | Nymphalids | Skippers
Comments? Questions? E-mail me at cwcook@duke.edu