This blog provides an informal forum for terrestrial invertebrate watchers to post recent sightings of interesting observations in the southern Vancouver Island region. Please send your sightings by email to Jeremy Tatum (tatumjb352@gmail.com). Be sure to include your name, phone number, the species name (common or scientific) of the invertebrate you saw, location, date, and number of individuals. If you have a photograph you are willing to share, please send it along. Click on the title above for an index of past sightings.The index is updated most days.

2024 February 14

2024 February 14

  Butterfly!   Gordon Hart passes on a note from Burl Jantzen that yesterday, February 13, Burl saw a Mourning Cloak near the south end of the Swan Lake boardwalk.

  Libby Avis has identified the (hitherto unidentified) moth shown on February 10  (quo vade).

  Here is a wide variety of invertebrates photographed by Ian Cooper on February 12 2024 in *Colquitz River Park and by the 9 km marker on the Galloping Goose Trail in #View Royal.

 

# Snout mite (Acari:  Bdellidae)  Ian Cooper

*Lauria cylindracea (Pul.: Lauriidae)  Ian Cooper

*Deroceras panormitanum (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)  Ian Cooper

#Orchesella cincta (Coll.: Orchesellidae)  Ian Cooper

#Globular springtail (Collembola – Symphypleona – Dicyrtomenidae)  Ian Cooper

 

#Crane fly larva – a “leatherjacket” – most likely Tipula paludosa (Dip.: Tipulidae)  Ian Cooper

 

 

 

2024 February 13

2024 February 13

    At last, after navigating through the difficulties of installing a new computer system and transferring files from one to the other, I believe Invertebrate Alert is now almost back in business. The one thing still remaining to do is to update the Index. I haven’t managed to update that since February 5 – I am still working on it (writes Jeremy Tatum).

 

   Ian Cooper sends a photograph of a springtail from View Royal, Feb 07 2024, and some recent spiders.  We thank Dr Robb Bennett for help with identifying the spiders.

 

Springtail  Orchesella cincta (Coll.: Orchesellidae)    Ian Cooper

 

 

Of the first two spiders below, Dr Bennett writes:  They are most likely a conspecific male and female pair. The female is definitely a Neriene – enough of the epigyne is visible in the side view to confirm the genus. Probably N. digna but I’m not positive without being able to examine the beasts. So, “Neriene sp.”

 

Male Neriene sp. (Ara.:  Linyphiidae – Linyphiinae)  Ian Cooper

Female Neriene sp. (Ara.:  Linyphiidae – Linyphiinae)  Ian Cooper

 

Next – another linyphiine, probably again Neriene:


Probably Neriene (Ara.: Linyphiidae – Linyphiinae)  Ian Cooper

 

Of the last one, below,  Ian writes:  I recognized this spider as soon as I saw it, but was not able to get a good side photo of it because it retreated to a crevice at the back of the hollow it was set up in when my camera’s flash went off. I’ll likely have further opportunities to photograph it in future, as these spiders tend to stay put.

Pimoa altioculata (Ara: Pimoidae)  Ian Cooper

 

More tomorrow…

2024 February 11

2024 February 11

  Here are some invertebrates photographed by Ian Cooper in *Colquitz River Park in Saanich and by the 9 km marker on the Galloping Goose Trail in #View Royal early on Feb 7 2024.   Ian’s suggested identifications are given.

Invertebrate Alert has not often had photographs of earthworms – although they are certainly invertebrates!  The default species found in gardens is usually Lumbricus terrestris – the one we all learned about in biology lessons at school!  But this one was not in a garden, and Ian suggests that it might be a native species – Arctiostrotus vancouverensis.  If there are any earthworm specialists among our viewers, please let us know what you think!

 *Possibly Arctiostrotus vancouverensis (Opisthopora: Acanthodrilidae) Ian Cooper

#European Sowbug – Oniscus asellus (Isopoda: Oniscidae)  Ian Cooper

*Harvestman (Opi.: Phalangiidae)  Ian Cooper

Val George writes:  This morning, February 11, this moth, Phigalia plumogeraria, was on the wall of my Oak Bay house, along with two Hydriomena nubilofasciata.

 Male Phigalia plumogeraria  (Lep.: Geometridae) Val George

 

2024 February 10

2024 February 10

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  This small moth was at my Saanich apartment building on February 8. Libby Avis identifies it as Ypsolopha falciferella. She writes:  They’re one of the first ones we get here [Part Alberni] early in the year. Also see them later, too – probably more than one generation a year.

Ypsolopha falciferella (Lep,: Ypsolophidae)   Jeremy Tatum

 

 

 

2024 February 7

2024 February 7

   Today we show a selection of invertebrate photographs taken recently by Ian Cooper.  We have managed to identify the ladybird beetle shown from different angles in the first three photographs.  We shall post identifications of the rest if and when we manage to identify them.  If any viewer can help with the identifications, please do so.

Male Hyperaspis lateralis (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Ian Cooper

Male Hyperaspis lateralis (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Ian Cooper

 

Male Hyperaspis lateralis (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Ian Cooper

Possibly Steatoda sp. (Ara.: Theridiidae)  Ian Cooper

Sheetweb spider (Ara.: Linyphiidae)  Ian Cooper

Globose springtail (Collembola)  Ian Cooper

Possibly Haplotrema vancouverense (Pul.: Haplotrematidae)  Ian Cooper

Deroceras panormitanum (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)   Ian Cooper

Moth caterpillar  (Lep.: Noctuidae) Ian Cooper