After a 30-year wait, Quebec finally has an official insect

Insectarium director Maxim Larrivée explains how the white admiral butterfly became the insect emblem of Quebec, and why conservation efforts are needed.

After 30 life cycles and thousands of births and deaths, a bill at the National Assembly in Quebec City was adopted in February to add a commonly seen black-and-white insect to the province’s national emblems.

Alongside the snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca), yellow birch tree (Betula alleghaniensis) and the blue flag (Iris versicolor), more than 30 per cent of a poll of 240,000 voters decided that the white admiral butterfly (Limenitis arthemis) should be the emblematic insect of Quebec.

In February, Bill 496, An Act to recognize the white admiral as the emblematic insect of Québec, was adopted in principle.

Quebec is the first Canadian province or territory to name an insect emblem.

“[It} is a beautiful butterfly that is present almost all the way to the tree line in Quebec, so 99 per cent of Quebecers can observe it,” said Montreal Insectarium Director Maxim Larrivée. “It is common, it is easy to approach, so you can connect with it and connect with nature.”

Larrivée added that the habitats around the white admiral are generally healthy.

Long road to recognition

The quest for an insect emblematic of Quebec began in the 1990s, according to the Insectarium.

Six biologists narrowed down the search from more than 20,000 insect species in the province.

Finalist insects needed to be present and common in a large part of the province, as well as easily identifiable.

The finalists proposed in 1996 were the common eastern bumble bee, the six-spotted cicindela, the twelve-spotted lady beetle, the ebony jewelwing and the white admiral.

The butterfly eventually won, but acts tabled in the National Assembly in 2017 and 2021 died in committee.

After 30 years of waiting, it seems Bill 496 will allow the white admiral to finally fly among the three other emblems of Quebec’s natural world.

Conservation needs

Though the white admiral is common and has not diminished as much as the Monarch butterfly, Larrivée said that the reality in 2026 is that all insect populations are collapsing.

“The biodiversity of insects in general across the world, but also here in Quebec, has diminished dramatically,” he said.

“Some literature reviews have shown that we’re looking at 30 per cent fewer insects in the last 30, 40 years. So basically, if you put that in perspective, like if you went for a walk in your favourite natural habitat 10 years ago, and you go back nowadays, you will see three species less of butterflies, for example, or other insects that you’re interested in.”

Larrivée said more needs to be done to ensure that decomposing matter is turned back into nutrients, particularly in agricultural and forest ecosystems.

“A lot of insects also are predators, so they contribute to what we call bio control to ensure that pests don’t become epidemic and destroy all our crops, destroy all our forests, and play these super important roles for us,” he said.

Fun facts about the white admiral:

• Class: Insecta; Order: Lepidoptera; Family: Nymphalidae
• Wingspan ranges from 47 to 78 mm.
• Females look like males, only slightly bigger.
• Eggs are laid from mid-June to mid-July. They hatch after seven to nine days.
• Caterpillars and chrysalids look like bird droppings to protect themselves from predators.
• The front and back of their wings feature white bands that look like admiral’s stripes.
• A group of butterflies is a kaleidoscope, flutter or rabble.