2020 July 25

   Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

3 Eulithis xylina

1 Hesperumia latipennis

1 Hesperumia sulphuraria

1 Lacinipolia pensilis

1 Nadata gibbosa 

1 Panthea virginarius

1 Protitame subalbaria

Lacinipolia pensilis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Protitame subalbaria (Lep.: Geometridae)   Jochen Möhr

Hesperumia sulphuraria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Yesterday, July 24, I saw two large (female) Western Tiger Swallowtails on Buddleia in UVic’s Finnerty Gardens.   I would not normally report sightings of such a usually common butterfly, except that I have seen so few of them this year.  I had almost forgotten how large and spectacular they are.

2020 July 24 afternoon

   Jochen Möhr writes from Metchosin:  I found this large caterpillar crawling in my garage.  I picked it up and got the impression that its bristles are stinging.  

   Jeremy Tatum replies:  Yes indeed its bristles have an effect a bit like stinging nettles.  It affects some people more than others.  It certainly affects me, and apparently Jochen, too.  Viewers who find one are advised not to handle it.

Sheep Moth Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Mike McGrenere writes:  This caterpillar came home with me from Rocky Point on my pack.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  This is not a moth, but is rather the larva of a giant sawfly:

Trichiosoma triangulum (Hym.: Cimbicidae)  Mike McGrenere

2020 July 24 morning

   Jochen Möhr’s moths, and a butterfly, from Metchosin yesterday morning, July 23:

1 Callizzia amorata

1 Choristoneura rosaceana

1 Cyclophora pendulinaria

2 Eulithis xylina

1 Gabriola dyari

1 Hydriomena californiata or marinata

2 Hesperumia latipennis

1 Homorthodes hanhami

1 Lacinipolia cuneata

1 Nadata gibbosa

2 Panthea virginarius

2 Sicya crocearia

1 Smerinthus ophthalmica

Callizzia amorata (Lep.: Uraniidae)  Jochen Möhr

Choristoneura rosaceana (Lep.: Tortricidae)  Jochen Möhr

Cyclophora pendulinaria Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

Smerinthus ophthalmica (Lep.: Sphingidae)  Jochen Möhr

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Jochen Möhr

Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning, July 24:

3 Callizzia amorata

4 Eulithis xylina

1 Homorthodes hanhami

1 Lacinipolia strigicollis

1 Nadata gibbosa

3 Panthea virginarius

2 Sicya crocearia

1 Smerinthus ophthalmica

1 Nepytis umbrosaria

Nepytia umbrosaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

2020 July 23 afternoon 

  Jeremy Tatum writes:   A few weeks ago I had the idea that I’d like to post pictures of both sexes of both species of our local Malacosoma, so I reared six caterpillars of each.  Darn it, but all the M. disstria  turned out to be females, so I didn’t get a guaranteed picture of a disstria male.  So, here is my incomplete (and hence not all that useful!) set. (One of the caterpillar photographs is Rosemary’s)

Malacosoma californicum (Lep.: Lasiocampidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Malacosoma disstria (Lep.: Lasiocampidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Female Malacosoma californicum (Lep.: Lasiocampidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Female Malacosoma disstria (Lep.: Lasiocampidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Male Malacosoma californicum (Lep.: Lasiocampidae)  Jeremy Tatum

More tomorrow…

2020 July 23 morning

   Val George writes:  July 22, I saw my first Pine Whites of the year.  There were 6 or 7 flying around the tops of a Douglas Fir stand at Witty’s Lagoon.

Scott Gilmore got these photos of a water mite from Battleship Lake in Strathcona Provincial Park on the 20^th July.   Dr Heather Proctor tells us that it is in the Superfamily Hygrobatoidea, and probably in the Family Pionidae, and possibly genus Piona.  In order to be more certain, she would need to see the genital plates, which might be visible in a ventral view, but are often obscured by other internal organs.

Invert Alert has had very few photographs of aquatic invertebrates.  We hope more photographers will rise to the challenge.

Possibly Piona (Acari: Pionidae)  Scott Gilmore

Possibly Piona (Acari: Pionidae)  Scott Gilmore

Possibly Piona (Acari: Pionidae)  Scott Gilmore