INVERTEBRATE ALERT
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.

August 27

2018 August 27

 

   Neoalcis californiaria  is turning up everywhere this year – from Saratoga Beach (Bryan Gates) to Metchosin (Jochen Möhr) –

 


Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Bryan Gates

 


Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

 


Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

 

   Bryan Gates sends a photograph of a beetle from Saratoga Beach.   Thanks to Scott Gilmore for telling us that it is of the Family Scarabaeidae – a bit difficult to go further than this, though maybe it’s worth looking at the genus Diplotaxis.

 

Scarabaeid beetle (Col.: Scarabaeidae) Bryan Gates

 

 

 

 

August 26

2018 August 26

 

   Jochen Möhr sends a photograph from Metchosin of a weevil, kindly identified for us by Scott Gilmore, as a Black Vine Weevil.

 

Black Vine Weevil Otiorhynchus sulcatus (Col.: Curculionidae)  Jochen Möhr

August 25

2018 August 25

 

   Jochen Möhr sends a picture of a grasshopper from Metchosin.

 


Melanoplus femurrubrum (Orth.: Acrididae)  Jochen Möhr

August 24 evening

2018 August 24 evening

 

   Libby Avis sends a photograph of Sympistis dunbari  (formerly Oncocnemis dunbari) from Port Alberni, August 23rd.

 


Sympistis dunbari (Lep.:  Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

 

  Jeremy Tatum writes:  I found this beetle today near Blenkinsop Lake.  It took about one nanosecond for Scott Gilmore to identify it for me.

 


Plectrura spinicauda (Col.: Cerambycidae)  Jeremy Tatum

August 24 morning

2018 August 24 morning

 

   Unknown moth identified!   Viewers may have noticed that we had had to label one of Jochen Möhr’s recent moths (August 21 morning and August 22 morning) merely as “noctuid moth”,  or “Euxoa sp.”   We are happy now to thank Lars Crabo for successfully identifying the moth as Euxoa difformis, and we have labelled the images accordingly.

  Bryan Gates responded quickly to my plea for photographs of the Fall Webworm.  Now we need someone to get a photograph of one of the webs.  There is a photograph of a web in the posting for August 6 morning, taken by Gordon Hart during the VNHS monthly Butterfly Walk.

Fall Webworm Hyphantria cunea (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Bryan Gates

 

  Val George writes:  Yesterday, August 23, there were seven moths settled on the outside walls of the Nature Centre at Goldstream Park.  Six of them were Neoalcis californiaria, which I haven’t attached photos of because several photos have recently been posted on the Alert.  I’ve attached a photo of the seventh – Coryphista meadii.

 


Coryphista meadii (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George