An uncommon Common

Common is a part of the name of many species: Common Carp (fish), Common Loon (bird), Common Pika (mammal), Common Whitetail (insect), Common Harebell (plant), Common Orange Lichen (lichen). Vastly more examples could be offered.

There are perils in incorporating the often misleading Common in a name. The species may have been common when named but uncommon now, or it may have been common in one region but uncommon in another. (We never see the Common Kingfisher around here, only the Belted Kingfisher.)

Last Thursday, when butterfly hunting with Janice Arndt (butterfly symposium), I watched a distinctly uncommon Common. Indeed, it is sufficiently rare that it is on the provincial Blue List—it is a species at risk.

Below are four pictures of this oddly named rare butterfly: the Common Checkered Skipper.