2024 December 1

  Ian Cooper writes:  Here is a selection of pictures from my pre-dawn photoshoot at *Colquitz River Park and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal last night. It was very cool out. Once again, there was frost on the Selkirk Trestle.  Luckily, I was wearing multiple layers and had packed a toque.  I was originally expecting to get rained on as per the forecast, but it was actually clear out. When I arrived at Colquitz River park around 4 a.m., I saw stars through the bare tree branches, including the constellation Orion. By the time I left the 9 km marker in View Royal, it was after 7:30 a.m. The ride back, in daylight, with a couple of stops, took an hour.

*Harvestman  Protolophus sp. (Opiliones: Protolophidae)  Ian Cooper

*Male Neriene digna  (Ara.: Linyphiidae)  Ian Cooper

*Small spider (Ara.: Linyphiidae – Erigoniinae)  Ian Cooper

*Common Striped Woodlouse Philoscia muscorum (Isopoda: Oniscidae)  Ian Cooper

#Yellow-Bordered Taildropper  Prophysaon foliolatum (Pul.: Arionidae)  Ian Cooper

*Unidentified noctuid caterpillar  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Ian Cooper

2024 November 30

No Invertebrate Alert was issued on November 29.

   Dr Robb Bennett writes:  One of my sons found several of these masses of cocooned caterpillars in his very dry and covered firewood supply. Very tough silk and they had virtually glued pieces of wood together.

Jeremy Tatum writes:  There must be between 100 and 200 of these cocoons. As Robb says, the cocoons are made of very tough silk, and each one examined contains a caterpillar, not yet a pupa.   We don’t know what they are, but with luck eventually one or two moths will emerge and we may possibly then be able to identify them.

Mass of from 100 to 200 unidentified moth cocoons.   Robb Bennett

Caterpillars from the above cocoons    Robb Bennett

Here are more pictures taken during Ian Cooper’s  November  26 photo shoot in *Colquitz River Park in Saanich and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.

*Large Yellow Underwing Moth  Noctua pronuba  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Ian Cooper

#Globular Springtail Ptenothrix sp. (Coll.: Dicyrtomidae)  Ian Cooper

*Grey Field Slug  Deroceras reticulatum (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)  Ian Cooper

#Longneck Field Slug  Deroceras invadens – (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)   Ian Cooper

2024 November 28

Here are a few more pictures from Ian Cooper’s November 26 2024 photo shoot.
*Colquitz River Park and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.

*Large Yellow Underwing Moth  Noctua pronuba  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Ian Cooper

# Cross Orb-weaver Araneus diadematus  (Ara.: Araneidae)  Ian Cooper

# Globular Springtail  Ptenothrix sp. (Coll.: Dicyrtomidae)  Ian Cooper

# Flat-backed Millepede  Scytonotus sp. (Diplopoda:  Polydesmidae)  Ian Cooper

* Grey Field Slug  Deroceras reticulatum (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)  Ian Cooper

# Common Rough Woodlouse  Porcellio scaber (Isopoda: Porcellionidae)  Ian Cooper

2024 November 27

   More invertebrates from Ian Cooper’s November 26 photo shoot in *Colquitz River Park in Saanich and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.

Large Yellow Underwing moth  Noctua pronuba  (Lep.: Noctuidae) Ian Cooper

# Probably Beaded Lancetooth  Ancotrema sportella (Pul.: Haplotrematidae)   Ian Cooper

# Northwest Hesperian  Vespericola columbianus (Pul.: Polygyridae)   Ian Cooper

# Chocolate Arion  Arion rufus (Pul.: Arionidae)   Ian Cooper

* Cybaeus (probably reticulatus or eutypus (Ara.: Cybaeidae)   Ian Cooper
Thanks to Dr Robb Bennett for help with the identification of this one

* Unidentified female linyphiid spider (Ara.: Linyphiidae)   Ian Cooper

2024 November 26

No Invertebrate Alert was issued on November 25.

Michele Hannem sends a photograph of one of three Cabbage White chrysalides that she found on the walls of her house in Metchosin.

Cabbage White  Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae)   Michele Hannem

Ian Cooper writes:  I had a good photo shoot at Colquitz River Park in Saanich and the Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal overnight.

.  We start with Ian’s photograph of an unusual (but apparently not uncommon) introduced Caucasian slug, known as the Worm Slug, which spends much of its time unseen burrowing underground.

Worm Slug  Boettgerilla pallens (Pul.: Boettgerillidae) Ian Cooper

Lauria cylindracea  (Pul.:  Lauriidae)   Ian Cooper

More tomorrow…