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![\"Stefania](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/butter_fly_p4290381.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBeautiful bugs abound
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Photo: Stefania Eymundson<\/p>\n
Stefania Eymundson spotted a pale swallowtail butterfly in her Penticton garden recently.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
And that brings us to Castanet’s Bug of the Week.<\/p>\n
Stefania Eymundson spotted a pale swallowtail butterfly in her Penticton garden recently.<\/p>\n
\u201c(They are) one of seven species of butterflies seen in the Okanagan,\u201d Eymundson said in an email.<\/p>\n
Their black and white colouring make them stand out and, unless you have lepidopterophobia \u2013 the fear of butterflies – there is no cause for alarm.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
While moths tend to be rather bland in their colouring, the sheep moth has brighter colours akin to a butterfly.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The sheep moth can grow to have a wing span of up to eight centimetres.<\/p>\n
And like its swallowtail cousin, the sheep moth can be seen throughout Western North America.<\/p>\n
![\"Muller](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/screen_shot_2026-06-26_at_2.08.49_pm_p4290382.jpg\")
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