Beautiful bugs abound
Photo: Stefania Eymundson
Stefania Eymundson spotted a pale swallowtail butterfly in her Penticton garden recently.
There are all manner of flying critters in the region. Some, like a wasp, are not so nice, but others are not only welcome, they are quite pretty.
And that brings us to Castanet’s Bug of the Week.
Stefania Eymundson spotted a pale swallowtail butterfly in her Penticton garden recently.
“(They are) one of seven species of butterflies seen in the Okanagan,” Eymundson said in an email.
Their black and white colouring make them stand out and, unless you have lepidopterophobia – the fear of butterflies – there is no cause for alarm.
Swallowtails can be found throughout Western North America and as far south as the Northern Baja in Mexico. They are pollinators and are beneficial to have around.
In the North Okanagan, Jan Muller spotted another type of flying critter. Muller snapped a picture of the sheep moth near her home in Lumby.
While moths tend to be rather bland in their colouring, the sheep moth has brighter colours akin to a butterfly.
Unlike most moths, the sheep moth can be spotted flying during the day and like all moths and butterflies, it is completely harmless to humans and are not considered a pest.
The sheep moth can grow to have a wing span of up to eight centimetres.
And like its swallowtail cousin, the sheep moth can be seen throughout Western North America.
Have you had a close encounter of the insect kind? Email us a picture or video and we may feature it as our Bug of the Week.
Photo: Jan Muller
Jan Muller snapped a picture of the sheep moth near her home in Lumby.