Large, white swan, introduced from Europe. Adults have an orange beak with distinctive black "knob" at the base; this helps distinguish it from other white swans in the field.

Habitat: Lakes, large ponds.

Length: 150 cm

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Cygnus olor

Large, distinctive, plump brown bird with long neck, black head and neck and white chin and cheeks. Usually seen grazing at the edge of ponds and wet areas. In Toronto, also seen on playing fields and grazes grass verges of roads and parking lots. On migration flies in distinctive V-formation. Often gives the loud, distinctive honking call in flight. When nesting it is fearless of humans and the guarding male will chase off intruders.

Habitat: Freshwater lakes, ponds, streams, marshes.

Length: 55 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Branta canadensis

Male has a shiny green head, white collar and a dark brown front, female is mottled brown. Both sexes have a blue wing patch with white borders. Feeds by tipping up in shallow water and pulling food off weeds.

Habitat: Freshwater, especially marshes, ponds and lakes, large rivers, urban parks.

Length: 40 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Anas platyrhynchos

Large, white heron. Usually seen standing motionless in pond shallows patiently waiting for fish to swim close. Nest colonially on Tommy Thompson Park.

Habitat: Large wetlands, lakes.

Length: 100 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Ardea alba

This large, black fish-eating bird ranges widely in Lake Ontario in search of fish shoals. It dives underwater from the surface and uses its feet to propel itself in pursuit of fish prey. Cormorants have relatively small wings and they labour to take off from the water, having to taxi for quite some distance. Once airborne though, they can fly rapidly, albeit in direct lines. After a fishing trip, they will perch and spread out their wings to dry. Cormorants nest colonially in trees and on the ground. At some sites, such as Tommy Thompson Park, colonies have killed their nest trees with their strong guano droppings.

Habitat: Freshwater, especially large lakes and rivers.

Length: 80 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Phalacrocorax auritus

The Killdeer is a shorebird but it has adapted quite well to urban habitats. It nests on the ground in the open. In an elaborate distraction display, the adult will feign a broken wing and gradually lead the predator away from the nest. The strident alarm call is said to sound like "kill-deer" (hence the name).

Habitat: Open habitat, especially roadsides and fields, often far from water.

Length: 25 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Charadrius vociferus

The familiar "seagull" of inland waters. Crow-sized white bird with yellow legs, webbed feet, narrow, pointed grey wings and a yellow beak with a black band at the tip (hence the name). Immature gulls are mottled brown and do not attain the full adult plumage for several years. In Toronto, there is a large nesting colony of gulls at Tommy Thompson Park.

Habitat: Freshwater, especially lake shores. In urban areas can be found in parks and garbage dumps.

Length: 47 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Larus delawarensis

Sparrow-sized black and white woodpecker with short, chisel-like beak. Up close, black eye-stripe and male has a red patch on the back of his head. Hops up tree trunks using its stiffened tail as a third "leg" to prop it up. Hammers at bark to uncover food such as spiders and beetle larvae. Inquisitive and fairly tame.

Habitat: Forest, especially open forest. Visits backyard bird feeders in winter.

Length: 15 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Picoides pubescens

Familiar pigeon of parks. Much individual variation, but most birds have a white patch on the lower back and two black bands on the wings. Can breed year-round, building a simple stick nest on building ledges.

Habitat: Urban. Visits bird feeders.

Habitat: Forest edge, old field and urban. Visits bird feeders.

Length: 20 cm

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Columba livia

Delicate small pigeon, with long tail. Quite approachable. An early nester (records as early as late March), the distinctive calls of Mourning Dove can be heard from late winter.

Habitat: Forest edge, old field and urban. Visits bird feeders.

Length: 25 cm

Scientific name: Zenaida macroura

You will more often hear this songster before you spot him perched on top of a shrub. The Song Sparrow arrives early in Toronto and stays quite late before migrating south for the winter. Adults are a nondescript steaked brown, but the males have a prominent dark spot on their front.

Habitat: Wet thickets, old field.

Length: 16 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Melospiza melodia

This sparrow-sized yellow bird is understandably mistaken for a canary, especially the males in their bright yellow breeding plumage and black cap and wings. The female is pale yellow and does not have a black cap. Their flight is bouncy and undulating, and their wings flash black and white. In early fall, goldfinches undergo a complete moult of their feathers and males and females both look a uniform pale yellow. Goldfinches are strict seedeaters, preferring thistle seeds, but also feeding on the seeds of sunflowers and coneflowers. In winter, some goldfinches stay in Toronto and visit feeders.

Habitat: Old fields and urban parkland. Visits bird feeders.

Length: 11 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Carduelis tristis

Barn swallows are aerial insect eaters, sometimes congregating in clouds above wetlands to hawk mosquitoes. In flight you can make out their deeply-forked tail; males have longer outer tail feathers than females. Barn swallows spend most of their time on the wing, but go to ground in the nesting season to collect mud. They build a mud cup nest and affix it to walls and eavestroughs of buildings, and under bridges.

Habitat: Near water.

Length: 16 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Hirundo rustica

The common resident warbler in Toronto. Favours woodland edge habitat. More likely to be heard singing, than to be seen. Males chase intruders aggressively.

Habitat: Prefers dense edge habitat

Length: 10 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Dendroica petechia

A dark grey flycatcher, smaller and slimmer than the Robin, with white front, a triangular-shaped head and a white band at the end of the tail which is obvious when it fans its tail. Kingbirds are insectivores in summer. From a lookout perch it will sally out mid-air to snatch a passing insect such as a dragonfly, or glean prey from the vegetation.

Habitat: Open habitat, especially grassland, old fields with hedgerows.

Length: 17 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Tyrannus tyrannus

The Northern Mockingbird was considered a rare resident of Toronto just twenty years ago. Today it is established and growing in abundance here. Noted as a prodigious mimic, males can have repertoires of hundreds of songs. It likes to perch prominently on hydro poles and treetops where its long tail is obvious.

Habitat: Woodland edge, old fields with shrubs, urban parkland.

Length: 25 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Mimus polyglottus

This bold, iridescent black bird struts around on lawns and open areas. The bright yellow eye is distinctive. Males have a much longer tail than females. Grackle song is loud and has been likened to a squeaky clothesline.

Habitat: Open habitat, especially parks, near marshes and gardens.

Length: 22 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Quiscalus quiscula

The distinctive, bold blue and white bird is surprisingly inconspicuous in summer as it secretively raises its young. Blue jays are omnivores, and will rob nests of eggs and nestlings of smaller birds; often their whereabouts is given away by the mobbing alarm calls of robins and other woodland species. Gives loud calls, including bell-like calls.

Habitat: Forest, especially forest edge, but inhabits wide range of habitats with trees including backyards, where in winter it visits bird feeders.

Length: 25 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Cyanocitta cristata

The only large all-black land bird that you are likely to see in Toronto (the other is the double-crested cormorant which is a water bird). In flight, broad wings have a ragged wing-tip appearance due to wing slots. The loud "caw" call is distinctive, and is given loudly and repeatedly when chasing enemies such as the red-tailed hawk. Crows are smart birds that live year-round in family groups. They are omnivores, often seen feeding on road kill, but they are also predators of eggs and chicks of smaller birds in summer. Blue jays and grackles will mob and chase a crow out of their nesting territory.

Habitat: Open habitat, especially open fields with scattered woods, and agricultural land. Urban.

Length: 50 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Corvus brachyrhynchos

The familiar sparrow of city sidewalks and backyards. Usually live in small, noisy flocks which get bigger in winter as families coalesce. Primarily a seedeater, but in the breeding season it feeds nestlings with insects, and gardeners sometimes despair of sparrows browsing the tender shoots of vegetables. In summer the sexes are easy to distinguish; male has a chestnut back, pale grey front and a black throat, female is paler and does not have a black throat. In winter, males still look a little darker but they do not have a prominent black throat patch.

Habitat: Urban, including farmyards. Visits bird feeders.

Length: 12 cm

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Passer domesticus

Sparrow-sized woodland bird with a chubby body and an oversize head that gives it a chick-like appearance. In summer, primarily insectivores, extracting spiders from curled leaves, and searching crevices and holes in branches. By late summer the breeding territories have broken down and family groups of chickadees coalesce into small flocks.

Habitat: Forest, especially deciduous and mixed woods, but also parkland and urban gardens. Visits bird bird feeders.

Length: 8 cm

Scientific name: Parus atricapillus

The unmistakeable bright red plumage and crest of the male cardinal contrasts with the more subdued female colouration. The red hue to the feathers is due to carotenoid pigments derived from the diet. Pairs stay together all year, and keep in contact with loud click calls. Male song (females sometimes sing also) consists of loud, repeated whistles, and you can hear it at any time of year. A common visitor to bird feeders, where they use their deep conical-shaped beak to easily crack sunflower husks and then eat the seed.

Habitat: Forest, woodland, gardens.

Length: 15 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Cardinalis cardinalis

Sparrow-sized iridescent blue bird with white front, narrow pointed wings and forked tail. Fast, agile flier that catches insects in flight, and spends much of its time in the air. Nests in tree cavities, and readily uses nestboxes set up near wetlands.

Habitat: Freshwater, especially lakes and ponds with adjacent woodland.

Length: 13 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Tachycineta bicolor

Robin-sized black bird with sharp yellow beak and a short tail. Up close, plumage is shiny purple-black in spring, but by late summer starlings have moulted into their white speckled winter plumage. Starlings are human commensals, thriving in urban areas. Outside the breeding season, starlings feed in flocks on parkland, lawns and in short meadows. On the ground, starlings move about by walking rather than hopping. Starlings stay in Toronto during winter, and roost communally.

Habitat: Urban, including farmyards. Visits bird feeders.

Length: 15 cm

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Sturnus vulgaris

Plump, grey bird with a rust-coloured breast and relatively long tail. Up close, yellow beak and white eye-ring contrast with the dark head. Female has more subdued colouring. Hops along the ground to feed. Often seen on lawns after rain hunting for earthworms. When hunting for worms, will freeze and tilt head to one side to "listen" for activity. Males sing their complex melody at dawn, often beginning before light, and then there is a burst of singing at dusk.

Habitat: Familiar bird of suburban lawns. Forest, especially forest edge, open woodlands, parklands, backyards.

Length: 15 cm

Scientific name: Turdus migratorius

Redwings usually live in colonies in marshes. Males defend small sections of the marsh from neighbours; they can display or conceal the red shoulder feathers (epaulets) in interactions with other males. The female is heavily-streaked brown and blends well with dried cattails, their favoured nesting habitat.

Habitat: Freshwater, especially cattail marshes, but also old fields and roadsides. Visits bird feeders in early spring.

Length: 15 cm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Agelaius phoeniceus

The Black Swallowtail is a familiar sight to gardeners as it flits above flower beds seeking nectar sources, or as females hover over fennel, parsley or dill food plants looking for places to lay their small yellowish oval eggs. Males and females look very different: females are most likely to be confused with other swallowtails, notably the female Spicebush. Mature caterpillars have green bands that alternate with yellow-spotted black bands. When alarmed caterpillars perform a threat display in which they flick out a forked orange coloured organ called the osmeterium from the top of their head. It emits a strong unpleasant odour which further deters predators. Overwinters as a chrysalis shaped like a curled leaf which may range in colour from green to weathered brown.

Habitat: In open wildflower meadows, fields, and open woodland; Frequents gardens in urban areas.

Wingspan: 70 - 90 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Papilio polyxenes

Toronto's most common swallowtail, with large yellow wings sporting black stripes, and a "tail" on each hind wing. The female lays her large round yellowish-green eggs on leaves of larval food plants, including cottonwoods, willows, cherries and birches. The caterpillar is green at maturity with a swollen head bearing colourful eyespots that mimic real eyes. Overwinters as a chrysalis that resembles a dried curled leaf.

Habitat: Observed in many habitat types, including parks, woodland openings, and roadsides.

Wingspan: 80 - 140 mm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Pterourus glaucus

Usually yellow, but some individuals can be orange with distinct black wing borders. Larval host plants are legumes, including the introduced forage crops clover and alfalfa. Sometimes Orange and Common sulphurs hybridize when they co-occur at high densities.

Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides.

Wingspan: 40 - 60 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Colias eurytheme

Pale lemon butterfly. Perhaps our most abundant Sulphur in Ontario. Prefers fields and roadsides.

Habitat: Fields, meadows.

Wingspan: 50 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Colias philodice

In flight looks white, but up close you will see the underwing has a pale yellow tinge. Has become a pest in some situations since being accidentally introduced near Montreal from Europe 150 years ago.

Habitat: Fields, meadows, gardens.

Wingspan: 50 mm

Adults: May - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Pieris rapae

Big and beautiful, the Monarch has vivid orange wings with black veins and black borders that are spotted with white. In late summer, Monarchs congregate at Tommy Thompson Park and other Great Lakes shoreline areas where they feed on wildflower nectar before migrating south, en route to Mexican wintering grounds. Colourfully striped caterpillars eat the leaves of Common Milkweed. The thick milky sap of the food plant contains compounds that make the caterpillars unpalatable to predators. The chrysalis is a pale luminous green spangled with gold.

Habitat: Fields, meadows.

Wingspan: 120 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Danaus plexippus

The Question Mark belongs to a group of butterflies known as the "angle wings", which are characterized by the notched appearance of the wings in profile. This species produces summer and fall broods which have different hindwing colouration: the hindwing is orange, smudged with black in the fall brood; while in the summer brood it is mostly dark. The forewings of both broods are deep burnt orange with black spots. Adults from the fall brood hibernate and overwinter. Females do not necessarily lay their eggs on the larval food plant, and on hatching, caterpillars must find their way to the host--often a nettle or elm. The chrysalis is coloured in shades of brown and dull green, and resembles a dry curled leaf. The butterflies prefer to sip tree sap, and juices from fermenting fruit and even carrion.

Habitat: Woodland openings, parks, gardens, and orchards.

Wingspan: 60 - 70 mm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Polygonia interrogationis

Burnt-orange butterfly with an irregular wing outline. Derives its common name from a scrawly white line on the wing underside which looks like a punctuation mark.

Habitat: Woodland, gardens.

Wingspan: 70 mm

Adults: March - October

Scientific name: Polygonia comma

The Red Admiral, one of our most common butterflies, is recognized by the broad orange band that divides the dark upper surface of the forewing, and by another orange band at the margin of the hindwing. The species has an extremely broad global distribution. Chrysalises and adult butterflies are able to survive the winter in areas with milder climates. It is doubtful that the Red Admiral is able to withstand Ontario's cold winters, and more likely that migrating butterflies from the south arrive in the province each spring. Nettles are the most important larval food plant. Mature caterpillars live inside a tent constructed of leaves stuck together with silk threads. The preferred food of adult butterflies is tree sap and juices from ripe fruit.

Habitat: Adapted to a wide variety of habitats in city, country, and wilderness, particularly fields, meadows, forest edges, and gardens

Wingspan: 45 - 55 mm

Adults: April - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Vanessa atalanta

Mourning Cloaks are long-lived as adults--up to 11 months. Individuals seen in early spring have overwintered as adults. They aestivate in the hottest months and reappear in the fall. Aestivation is the summer equivalent of hibernation, employed by many species to avoid the heat and lack of moisture. The caterpillars, armed with a spectacular array of spiny hairs, feed on leaves of Willow, Elm, Birch, Cottonwood, and Hackberry.

Habitat: Woodland, gardens.

Wingspan: 80 mm

Adults: March - October

Scientific name: Nymphalis antiopa

Wings are a mouse brown with prominent eyespots. Adults are often found perched in trees where they feed on sap. They also feed on the juices from rotting fruit. Caterpillars feed on grasses, such as Kentucky Bluegrass. Hibernates as a caterpillar.

Habitat: Woodlands, fields, marshes. Widespread.

Wingspan: 50 - 70 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Cercyonis pegala

Small, dainty butterflies; powdery blue, even almost white in females. Adults feed opportunistically on a wide variety of flowers. The caterpillars eat flowers.

Habitat: Woodland clearings, glades and edges; fields and roadsides.

Wingspan: 20 - 35 mm

Status: Native

Scientific name: Celastrina neglecta

This lively orange butterfly darts about grasses with an erratic flight. Up close you can see the tips of the antennae are curved into pointed hooks, a characteristic of the skipper family. Females lay their eggs in the stems of their preferred larval food plants, Cocksfoot and Timothy grass, in late summer and the eggs overwinter.

Habitat: Grasslands, meadows, roadside verges.

Wingspan: 20 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Thymelicus lineola

This introduction from Europe has only recently been recorded in Toronto, but it is already widespread and quite common. Adults visit summer meadow flowers, including Queen Anne's Lace and Goldenrod, and feed on pollen and nectar. Adult beetles will also feed on aphids. The adults live just one summer, and spend most of it mating. The larvae overwinter in the ground and prey on invertebrates.

Length: 25 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Rhagonycha fulva

One of the commonest types of Soldier Beetle of which there are several hundred species. Adults feed on pollen and nectar of Goldenrod flowers. Larvae are predatory on other insects and considered useful as biological control for grasshoppers.

Habitat: Goldenrod flowers in fields and meadows.

Length: 25 mm

Adults: June - October

Scientific name: Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus

Bright red beetle with black spots and elongated antennae. One of only a handful of species that can feed on milkweed plants. Most herbivores cannot tolerate the chemicals and the sticky latex secreted by milkweed plants. Milkweed beetles avoid the sticky latex by severing the latex tubes in the leaf upstream of where they are feeding on the leaf. Adults emerge in early summer after pupating in an underground chamber. Females lay their eggs in grass stalks; the larvae move to the roots of adjacent milkweed plants to feed. Adults held gently in the fingers will make a squeaking sound, and they also communicate with purring sounds.

Habitat: Common Milkweed plants in fields and meadows.

Length: 15 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Tetraopes tetrophthalmus

This relatively large lady beetle has seven black spots on the elytra (wing covers), and a white spot on each side of the head. It has been introduced from Europe on several occasions for biological control of aphids. Adults and larvae prey on aphids.

Length: 7 mm

Adults: April - June

Status: Introduced

Status: Native

Scientific name: Coccinella septempunctata

This lady beetle has quite variable colour markings, but distinctive black marks on the face look like a letter W or M. Adults and larvae are effective predators of aphids; larvae can eat over 1,000 aphids each day during their development. Full-term larvae are bright yellow and orange and sport an armoury of bristles.

Length: 6 mm

Adults: June - December

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Harmonia axyridis

Metallic green beetles with long legs and relatively large eyes, ideally adapted to chasing down prey. Adults usually prefer to hunt in sunny, sandy sites for a wide variety of prey, including ants, spiders and grasshoppers. The larvae live in an excavated burrow, and feed by ambushing passing prey such as spiders. The larvae pupate in the burrow and then as adults dig themselves out to emerge in early spring.

Habitat: Sandy trails, sunny open sites.

Length: 12 mm

Adults: April - August

Status: Native

Scientific name: Cicindela sexguttata

This striking leafhopper with a pointed head feeds by sucking plant juices from leaves and stems of a wide variety of shrubs, including raspberry. When disturbed, it is capable of "hopping" 50 cm. or more to safety.

Habitat: Found on wildflowers in meadows, gardens and woodland.

Length: 9 mm

Adults: June - October

Scientific name: Graphocephala coccinea

The characteristic loud buzzing song of the male cicada is a sure sign of summer. On a hot day, the tree canopy can resound with the calls of thousands of males hoping to attract a female for mating. The mated female lays eggs in crevices in the branches and trunks of trees. The larvae move to the ground, burrow into the soil, and remain there for 13 - 17 years. When they finally emerge again, the nymphs moult their skin and become adults.

Habitat: Fields, woodland edges.

Length: 30 mm

Adults: July - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Tibicen canicularis

The carpenter bee is the size of a bumble bee, but it has a shiny black abdomen, whereas bumble bees have hairy, usually coloured, abdomens. Neat, circular holes about 1 cm in diameter in dry standing wood are the handiwork of the Carpenter bee. They drill tunnels and build chambers inside wood for their overwintering sites and nest cells. Males are territorial and guard their nest chambers. Cells are stocked with mix of pollen and nectar which will sustain the larvae once they hatch. Young adults that emerge in summer will use the nest tunnels to overwinter in.

Habitat: Fields, woodland edge.

Length: 25 mm

Adults: May - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Xylocopa virginica

The single yellow stripe at the top of an otherwise black thorax is diagnostic. Eastern bumble bees have adapted well to urban backyards, and they will make their nests in a variety of human structures, including under decks, in old garages and in cinder block. Bumble bees feed on nectar from a very wide range of native and introduced wildflowers, thanks in part to a quite long tongue. They are important pollinators of commercial crops including tomatoes, berries and peppers. Bumble bees are able to fly in rainy and overcast conditions and so they are very efficient pollinators; in contrast honeybees actively feed only in sunny conditions. Bumblebees effect pollination in tomatoes by sonic vibration, also known as buzz pollination. A bumblebee will land on the flower, and vibrate its thoracic wing muscles to create sound vibrations at a frequency which expels pollen. The buzzing sound is quite a bit higher frequency than the familiar flight buzzing sounds of a bumblebee. Buzz pollination is more effective than mechanical methods at pollinating tomatoes. Bumblebees collect pollen to provision the nests where larvae are reared.

Habitat: Fields, woodland edge, backyards.

Length: 25 mm

Adults: June - November

Status: Native

Scientific name: Bombus impatiens

These strikingly coloured bees are a type of sweat bee, so named because they are attracted to the salts in perspiration. But don't be alarmed if they land on your skin as they are docile; the males cannot sting, and the females will only sting if really provoked. Usually seen on flowers where they feed primarily on pollen. Green metallic bees nest in tunnels they excavate in the ground. They are solitary nesters, and do not form colonies like honeybees. They provision their nest chambers with a ball of pollen and nectar that will sustain the larva as it grows.

Habitat: Fields, meadows.

Length: 12 mm

Adults: May - October

Scientific name: Agapostemon virescens

This slender wasp, with smokey brown wings and two-tone antennae has become quite widespread in Toronto since it was first recorded here about ten years ago. In flight, its long hind legs dangle noticeably. The nest is built from wood pulp gathered by the queen. It consists of a number of open cells in an umbrella-like structure which is fixed underneath an overhang, or sited in a large hole or crevice. The queen emerges from hibernation in spring, builds the initial nest and lays an egg in each cell, then tends the first brood herself. Subsequent generations of worker bees will take over all the nesting roles except reproduction.

Habitat: Dry meadow, fields, backyards.

Length: 25 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Polistes dominulus

An aggressive and unwelcome guest at picnics, particularly in the late summer when their numbers are high and they are forced to scavenge for meat and sugary drinks to sustain their burgeoning colonies. Yellowjackets are predatory wasps that hunt caterpillars, spiders, and flies to provision their larvae with. Adults mostly feed on plant sap and nectar. The German yellowjacket normally builds its nest in underground holes, but it has adapted well to urban structures, and will use house attics and wall voids. Yellowjackets will sting readily.

Habitat: Fields, gardens.

Length: 14 mm

Wingspan: 30 mm

Adults: June - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Vespula germanica

Black, robust cricket which has an oversized, helmet-shaped head. Adult males sing day and night in late summer and early fall.

Habitat: Common in dry meadows, fields, roadsides.

Length: 20 mm

Adults: July - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Gryllus pennsylvanicus

Adults are very active predators; they perch and scan for prey, holding their long forelegs folded up as if praying (hence common name). They will ambush a variety of small prey, including butterflies, grasshoppers, caterpillars and flies, snaring them in long spines on their forelegs. Eggs are laid in a sticky mass on a twig, which hardens into a tough egg case. The eggs overwinter in the hardened egg case, hatch in the spring, and by late summer adults are conspicuous in fields and meadows.

Habitat: Sunny open habitats, fields, meadows.

Length: 60 mm

Status: Introduced

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Mantis religiosa

Our largest common dragonfly, usually seen flying quite slowly and patrolling open meadows. Likes to perch vertically on tall wildflowers. Close-up, the bull's-eye mark on top of the face is prominent. Prior to fall migration, swarms at places like Tommy Thompson Park.

Habitat: Ponds, slow-moving streams.

Wingspan: 100 mm

Adults: April - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Anax junius

Only the males have twelve black spots: three on each of their four wings. Females lack the black spots, both sexes have white patches on the wings. They like to perch horizontally, especially on a stick inclined over the water.

Habitat: Prefers sunny, open shoreline of ponds and lakes.

Wingspan: 100 mm

Adults: July - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Libellula pulchella

Our commonest damselfly is usually observed flying slowly amongst tall grasses. Long curved spines on the front legs are used to snare flying insect prey. Once perched they dismember their prey with toothed jaws.

Habitat: Ponds.

Wingspan: 40 mm

Adults: July - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Ischnura verticalis

Our largest damselfly, usually found in wet woodlands near streams. Individuals will venture into the edge of woodland to catch mosquitoes. Wings are black but the body looks metallic green in bright light. Males are territorial and use perches to watch for females. Their acrobatic courtship display includes a flight routine in which the male flaps each wing independently.

Habitat: Prefers slow-moving streams, but will stray into urban areas.

Wingspan: 80 mm

Adults: July - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Calopteryx maculata

Introduced from Europe, this large daisy thrives in tough places. The white "petals" vary in number and are actually individual ray flowers. Plants give off a pungent, unpleasant smell if stems are crushed.

Habitat: Open sunny habitats, especially dry meadows, abandoned fields, roadsides.

Height: 100 cm

Flowering: June - September

Scientific name: Chrysanthemum leucanthemum

One of the most abundant flowers of disturbed sites. The delicate flower heads consist of many tiny white flowers clustered in a flat-topped "umbel." The central flower is often purple. Umbels are characteristic of plants in the carrot-parsley family, to which this species belongs. Seeds are eaten by wildlife. Several plants that closely resemble this one have poisonous alkaloids and are very dangerous to eat.

Habitat: Dry meadows, roadsides, abandoned, disturbed land.

Height: 30 - 100 cm

Flowering: July - September

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Daucus carota

The flowers have rounded, deeply-notched petals and open in the evening when their fragrance attracts moths. The stem and base of the flower is covered in sticky hairs, and often accidentally snares small insects.

Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides.

Height: 100 cm

Flowering: June - September

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Silene latifolia

White sweet-clover has many long slender clusters of tiny white nectar-producing flowers. Records of its use as a honey plant by beekeepers in Alabama date to the mid-1800's. Beginning in the early 1900's it was planted extensively for soil improvement, slope stabilization, livestock and wildlife forage, and to provide cover for nesting waterfowl.

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, widespread in disturbed areas.

Height: 50 - 200 cm

Flowering: June - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Melilotus alba

Small white or sometimes pink flowers are arranged in flattish clusters (corymbs) at the tops of stems. Flowers and feathery leaves reported used for medicinal and food purposes from Middle Ages through to present. North American Indian tribes used yarrow to treat illness. Seed set requires pollination by insects such as small flies and skipper butterflies. Offshoots arise from creeping rootstalks.

Habitat: Open, sunny areas. Poor soils.

Height: 20 - 100 cm

Flowering: July - October

Status: Native

Scientific name: Achillea millefolium

Clusters of intense yellow flowers brighten up roadsides and other open habitats in summer. Narrow spreading seed pods resembling the toes of a bird give it the name "Bird's-foot trefoil". Leaves have five leaflets. Introduced to North America as a honey plant, and as forage for livestock. Largely self-incompatible, and requires bumblebees and honeybees for pollination.

Habitat: Open, sunny habitats, especially roadsides, abandoned fields.

Height: 60 cm

Flowering: June - August

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Lotus corniculatus

Tall spike-like stems carry long-spurred flowers resembling snapdragons that are butter yellow with egg yolk orange "lips". An old name, "Rancid", refers to the toxic juice which makes it unsuitable as forage. Small winged seeds are wind-dispersed. Underground rhizomes spread to form large colonies. Pollinated by larger bees strong enough to push past the lips. Pollination also reported by long-tongued butterflies and skippers.

Habitat: Open, sunny areas such as roadsides, waste land.

Height: 50 cm

Flowering: July - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Linaria vulgaris

Common Tansy or "Golden Buttons" ia a familiar sight along roadsides and sunny walkways. Numerous deep yellow button-like flower heads composed of tubular florets are borne in flat-topped clusters at the ends of stems. Production of viable seed is mostly dependent on cross-pollination. Tansy is visited by honeybees, flies, butterflies and moths. The aromatic leaves are deeply divided and described as "fern-like". Tansy contains thujone, which is toxic to humans and livestock.

Habitat: Roadsides. Fields. Widespread in disturbed areas.

Height: 40 - 100 cm

Flowering: July - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Tanacetum vulgare

A striking plant with tall spikes of yellow flowers and large woolly leaves. Reported to be successfully cross-pollinated only by bees. Flowers open for pollination for one day, and, if cross-pollination does not occur, the plant pollinates itself. Individual plants can produce 100,000 to 200,000 tiny seeds, depending on conditions. Seeds can remain viable for many decades.

Habitat: Dry, sunny sites, especially gardens, roadsides. Widespread in disturbed areas.

Height: 30 - 200 cm

Flowering: July - September

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Verbascum thapsis

Loose clusters of yellow flowers are borne at the ends of numerous leafy stems. An historic name-"Touch-and-heal"-reflects the healing properties attributed to this plant. The medicinal compound hypericin is extracted from glands which look like black dots on the petals and leaves. Unsuitable as a forage plant owing to the bitterness of the foliage.

Habitat: Open, sunny habitats, especially disturbed areas and pastures.

Height: 30 - 80 cm

Flowering: July - August

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Hypericum perforatum

The tubular flowers are visited by hummingbirds and bumblebees. Flowers open for 2 days. Seed set depends on cross pollination. The fruit is a capsule which "explodes" when touched, ejecting the seeds several metres away from the plant.

Habitat: Open woodland, moist sites such as streamsides.

Height: 150 cm

Flowering: August - September

Scientific name: Impatiens capensis

Typical of the Daisy family to which it belongs, the flower is actually composed of yellow "petals" which are ray flowers and the dark brown centre (the "eye") is packed with disk flowers.

Habitat: Open, sunny habitats, especially dry meadows.

Height: 100 cm

Flowering: July - August

Scientific name: Rudbeckia hirta

The bright yellow flower quickly transforms to the familiar fluffy "ball" of seeds which disperse in the slightest breeze. Introduced from Europe, it readily colonizes disturbed habitats.

Habitat: Open, disturbed land, especially mowed areas.

Height: 20 cm

Flowering: April - September

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Taraxacum officinale

Chicory's beautiful blue flowers close by early afternoon. This plant is cultivated for its tap root which is roasted and ground for use as a coffee substitute, and as a flavour enhancer for some beers. Very young basal leaves are eaten raw in salads. Members of the chicory family are known for their milky and often bitter juices.

Habitat: Open, sunny habitats, especially dry meadow, roadsides, waste areas.

Height: 30 - 100 cm

Flowering: June - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Cichorium intybus

Dense clusters of small, violet-blue, pea-type flowers grow in spike-like inflorescences. A sprawling or climbing plant with tendrils and numerous slender-tipped leaflets. Flowers have abundant nectar that attracts bees and butterflies. In southern Ontario, it is a larval food plant for two species of butterfly: Eastern Tailed Blue (Everes comyntas); and Common Sulphur (Colias philodice). On being touched, ripe pods burst and eject seeds.

Habitat: Open, sunny areas such as meadows, roadside, disturbed areas.

Width: 60 - 100 cm

Flowering: June - September

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Vicia cracca

This bristly member of the Borage family has attractive violet blue funnel-shaped flowers with long red stamens. The small flowers are borne in a branched spike arrangement. Grown by oilseed producers for its small rough-coated nutlets containing an oil rich in fatty acids. Limited popularity as a honey plant. Reported introduced to North America as a garden ornamental in the early settlement period.

Habitat: Open, sunny habitats, especially dry meadow, roadsides. Widespread in disturbed areas.

Height: 30 - 80 cm

Flowering: June - September

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Echium vulgare

Actually from Europe, this is our most widespread thistle. Spreads by rhizomes and forms large patches.

Habitat: Fields, roadsides.

Height: 100 cm

Flowering: July - August

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Cirsium arvense

A robust, tall thistle with very thorny leaves and stem. The large, usually single flowerheads are loved by Goldfinches looking for seeds in late summer.

Habitat: Fields, roadsides.

Height: 100 cm

Flowering: July - August

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Cirsium vulgare

This highly invasive plant establishes large colonies from seed, which is produced in great quantities. Leaves are deeply cleft into narrow lobes. Flower heads resemble those of a thistle, and are composed of numerous tube-shaped pinkish purple florets. A nectar source for honeybees and many native insects. Prized as a honey plant by beekeepers in Michigan. Larval food plant of the Painted Lady.

Habitat: Fields, roadsides. Widespread in disturbed areas.

Height: 30 - 100 cm

Flowering: July - September

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Centaurea maculosa

Large spiny bracts curve upwards around egg-shaped flower heads which are densely populated with tiny lavender flowers and hidden spines. Spines remain after flowers die back. Pollinated mostly by bumblebees; flowers also visited by other bees and Pipe Vine Swallowtail. Seeds eaten by American Goldfinch. Dried flower heads used historically to card (comb) raw wool, and "tease" or raise the woven surface.

Habitat: Roadsides, old fields. Widespread in low, moist areas and disturbed areas.

Height: 50 - 180 cm

Flowering: August - October

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Dipsacus fullonum

Two hundred years have passed since the first infestations of this highly invasive plant were reported in wetlands near developing ports in eastern North America, where ballast soil containing seeds was dumped. This plant has showy pinkish-purple flowers clustered at intervals in long spike-like arrangements. A prolific seed producer. Dense stands with matted roots crowd out native wetland species and reduce biodiversity. Programs underway in Canada and the United States to control infestations.

Habitat: Wetlands, particularly pond edges.

Height: 60 - 200 cm

Flowering: July - September

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Lythrum salicaria

Small, strongly-scented pink or purplish flowers with a complex structure are borne in rounded clusters. Large oblong leaves have fine down beneath. Thick milky juice with toxic properties flows from cuts in leaves and stems. Monarch butterfly larvae eat leaves but are immune to the toxins which make the larvae unpalatable to predators. Honeybees are the main pollinators, although other insects visit the flowers. Warty green pods contain brown seeds with silky "parachutes".

Habitat: Open, sunny sites, particularly disturbed land, roadsides, old fields.

Height: 150 cm

Flowering: July - August

Status: Native

Scientific name: Asclepias syriaca

Dog-strangling Vine is an aggressively invasive plant. Twining, vine-like, tangled stems cover large areas smothering other vegetation and reducing biodiversity. Plant parts are unpalatable and possibly toxic to wildlife and livestock. After pollination, the clustered dark purple flowers produce slender pods that contain seeds equipped with silky "parachutes" for wind dispersal. Difficult to eradicate as a new plant can grow from a small root fragment left in the soil.

Habitat: Open and edge habitats, but colonizes woodland where can form dense stands. Adapted to a wide variety of habitats, including disturbed areas, ravines, stream banks, forests and prairies.

Height: 300 cm

Flowering: June - August

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Vincetoxicum nigrum

Well-named, because each plant is topped with many small daisy-like flowers that consist of 50 to 150 rays that are white or pink. This plant was dried and then burned to fumigate the pioneer houses against bugs.

Habitat: Fields, roadsides.

Height: 70 cm

Flowering: June - August

Scientific name: Erigeron annus

Perennial. Tall, erect plant with tough leaves that are rough to the touch. Stems are purple and usually spotted. Purple flowers in flat clusters become "hairy" with age.

Habitat: Moist sites, especially marshes, swamps, wet meadows.

Height: 175 cm

Flowering: July - September

Scientific name: Eupatorium maculatum

Introduced from Europe as a forage crop, this legume can grow in very poor soils. The leaves normally comprise three leaflets, and have with faint banding near their base.

Habitat: Open, sunny habitats, especially fields, roadsides. Grown as crop.

Height: 25 cm

Flowering: June - August

Status: Introduced

Scientific name: Trifolium pratense

The stem is square-edged and hairy. The tubular flowers are visited by hummingbirds and bees and are rich in nectar.

Habitat: Prairie, meadows.

Height: 100 cm

Flowering: July - August

Scientific name: Monarda fistulosa