Category Archives: Naturalist Posts

Swallowtail Tales

Kamloops Naturalist Club Posted on by

There are 7 species of swallowtail butterflies in BC, all in the genus Papilio (Guppy & Shepard, 2001.) People seldom miss seeing these large butterflies as they flutter by or gather at wet spots to drink or on flowers to obtain nectar. Careful observation allows us to identify them to species more easily than some other butterflies, with the recognition that taxonomy can be dynamic in the world of insects. While I was at Riverside Park in Kamloops on May 22, 2018, the high water levels had receded a bit, … Continue reading →

Whitefaces Are Not All Herefords

Kamloops Naturalist Club Posted on by

Anyone exploring the grasslands and dry forests around Kamloops is familiar with the Hereford cattle that graze the area. Their distinctive white faces are hard to miss. But a closer look around pond edges or even in dry forest openings or grasslands will reveal much smaller creatures with white face. These are members of our local dragonfly fauna. There are two groups of smaller dragonflies that have white faces. The meadowhawk group in the Sympetrum genus has a single member known as the White-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum obtrusum.) The other group … Continue reading →

Mini-dragons

Kamloops Naturalist Club Posted on by

Dragonflies in British Columbia are classified in the Order Odonata with two sub-orders. The Anisoptera sub-order comprises the larger dragonflies that many people see around marshes while the sub-order Zygoptera consists of the smaller and more fragile-looking Damselflies. This latter group consists of at least 24 species in the province. Identification to species on the wing can be challenging, with some characters visible more readily with a hand lens or microscope. To add to the challenge, the females of some species are polymorphic, existing in one form that resembles the … Continue reading →

Making Bluebird Boxes

Kamloops Naturalist Club Posted on by

This article appeared in the May 2018 edition of Sage Whispers. You can read the complete newsletter here. In January 2018, the Kamloops Naturalist Club applied for funding available from BC Nature to build 50 bluebird boxes in order to replace damaged and/or missing nest boxes.  The boxes are subject to deterioration from the sun and weather over time, as well as damage caused by animals and vandals.

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