2020 March 20 afternoon

   Jochen Möhr had a good bunch of several different hard-to-identify brown and grey noctuids at his Metchosin home this morning.  Several were of the genus Orthosia.  Sometimes these are not especially hard, but we (that is Libby Avis, Jochen, and Jeremy Tatum) are finding some of this morning’s batch a challenge.  The several contesters are O. hibisci, O. praeses, O. pacifica and O. pulchella.  In Britain the genus Orthosia are known as “drabs”.  Now pulchella is Latin for little beautiful one – so what shall we call O. pulchella?  The Beautiful Drab Moth?  The labels I have given for the two Orthosias below are our best tries – but we could be wrong!

Probably Orthosia hibisci (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Probably Orthosia pulchella (Lep.: Noctuidae)

Jochen Möhr

Cerastis enigmatica (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Lithophane petulca (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Hydriomena manzanita (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

    Jeremy Tatum writes:  I went to Munn Road today – the yellow gate and transformer station area.  I saw one Mesoleuca gratulata  and several Epirrhoe plebeculata, but they wouldn’t lay any eggs for me. 
M. gratulata uses Rubus, but I don’t know the larval foodplant for E. plebeculata.  I am sure if several of us made a determined effort this spring to see plebeculata ovipositing, we’d find an egg, which I’d try to rear to adulthood.

2020 March 20 morning

   Gordon Hart sends a photograph from Highlands of Enchoria lacteata – another of the pretty day-flying geometrids to be seen at this time of year.

Enchoria lacteata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Gordon Hart

   Kirsten Mills writes:  Today, March 19, at 4pm I saw 2 California Tortoiseshells on the summit of Mount Tolmie. Also I a butterfly flew by me that I think was a Mourning Cloak.

California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Kirsten Mills

2020 March 19

   Welcome to Spring!  The Sun crosses the equator from south to north at 8:49 pm PDT this evening. Appropriately, there were a number of butterfly sightings yesterday:

  Val George writes:  I  saw my first butterflies of the season yesterday afternoon, March 18:  Two California Tortoiseshells at the summit of Mount Tolmie, one on the reservoir, the other by the Jeffery Pine.   They were definitely two different insects, as the photos show.

California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica (Lep.: Nymphalidae)   Val George

California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica (Lep.: Nymphalidae)   Val George

   Jochen Möhr writes from Metchison:  When I came home yesterday, there was a Satyr Comma enjoying the the warm gravel on our driveway. 

Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)   Jochen Möhr

    Gordon Hart wrote yesterday  March 18 from Highlands:  We had a Mourning Cloak fly by and stop briefly. Unfortunately, my camera was in the house, so I was unable to get a photo. That makes three species of butterfly in 2020, and no pictures of any of them!  I did see lots of bees and moths as well. I have attached a picture of Epirrhoe plebeculata.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I have been trying to find the caterpillar of E.  plebeculata for years.  If anyone sees this moth (common in March and April) please keep a lookout for oviposition!

Epirrhoe plebeculata (Lep.: Geometridae)   Gordon Hart

   Jochen Möhr continues with his amazing run of moths at his Metchosin home.  Thus, this morning:

1 Acerra normalis

8 Eupithecias (including one probably ravocostaliata)

17 Hydriomena manzanita

1 Lithophane innominata

1 Lithophane pertorrida

2 Orthosia praeses 

1 Triphosa haesitata 

2 Venusia obsoleta / pearsalli

2 unidentified micros

   Spurred on by this, writes Jeremy Tatum, I went to the Goldstream Park Nature House this morning, but, although the lights were on, the only moths were three Eupithecia and one Venusia.  Then I went to the Swan Lake Nature House.  The lights were on, but there were no moths at all.  Both Nature Houses are closed, because of the corona virus outbreak.   The moths are presumably paying attention.

  Here is a sample of some of Jochen’s moths this morning.

Acerra normalis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Acerra normalis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Lithophane pertorrida (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Eupithecia nevadata/ravocostaliata  (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

   The next one, we think, is a slightly worn Lithophane, but we can’t be absolutely certain whether it is L. innominata or L. petulca.

Lithophane innominata/petulca (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Orthosia praeses (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Venusia obsoleta/pearsalli  (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

Hypena californica (Erebidae – Hypeninae) Jochen Möhr

2020 March 18

    Jochen Möhr writes that the abundance of moths at his Metchosin home continues.  Thus this morning:

21 Eupithecias (among them some new ones, probably not annulata)

17 Hydriomena manzanita

1 Lithophane petulca

3 Orthosia praeses 

3 Triphosa haesitata 

3 Venusia obsoleta / pearsalli

   Here is a selection of photographs:

Lithophane petulca (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

(Larval foodplant Alder – and probably other caterpillars!)

Orthosia praeses (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

(Aslo Alder, but I think it is an innocent vegetarian)

Orthosia praeses (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

This nice orange ruff on the front of the thorax is an aid to its identification.

American Tissue Moth Triphosa haesitata (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

The foodplant is restricted to Frangula.  The adult moth hibernates – sometimes in numbers in caves.

The pugs are a large genus, many of which are challenging to identify.  This one is probably one of the difficult pair Eupithecia annulata/oleracea, both of which feed on conifers.

Eupithecia annulata/oleracea (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

  This next pug, a fairly large one, is boldly marked, and, one would hope, easy to identify.  Alas, it is one of two look-alikes, E. ravocostaliata and E. nevadata.  The mid-costal dark patch is supposed to be triangular (like this one) on nevadata and rectangular on ravocostaliata – but who knows?  I haven’t reared either, writes Jeremy Tatum, but the caterpillar of ravocostaliata has been found on Salix.

Pronunciation:   RAY-vo costallyAHta.

Eupithecia nevadata/ravocostaliata (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

   The pugs are not the only small geometrids that are hard to identifiy.  The two waves Venusia obsoleta and V. pearsalli are a difficult pair.

Venusia obsoleta/pearsalli (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

2020 March 17 evening

   Kalene Lillico photographed this Satyr Comma butterfly at Swan Lake Nature House yesterday.  We leave it to viewers to decide if it is the same individual as – or a different one from –  the one that Kirsten Mills photographed there on the same date.

Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Kalene Lillico

   Jochen Möhr has been seeing a large variety of moths – macros and micros – at his house in Metchosin in the last few days.  Here is a selection of a few of them.  As often, we are grateful to Libby Avis for her help with identifications.

Hydriomena manzanita (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

Lithophane pertorrida (Lep.:  Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Lithophane pertorrida (Lep.:  Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Lithophane innominata (Lep.:  Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Venusia obsoleta/pearsalli (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

Triphosa haesitata (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr