2017 June 7 morning

   Ron Flower sends a photograph of two Field Crescents from Eddy’s storage facility on Stelly’s Cross Road, June 5.

 Field Crescents Phyciodes pratensis (Lep.: Nymphalidae – Melitaeinae)  Ron Flower

   Jeremy Tatum sends a photograph of Hyphantria cunea from UVic, June 6.  The caterpillar of this moth is the “Fall Webworm”.

Hyphantria cunea (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Jeremy Tatum

Michael Aronoff sends a picture of Sphinx perelegans  from Salt Spring Island – an uncommon, powerful and spectacular moth.

 Sphinx perelegans (Lep.: Sphingidae)  Michael Aronoff

   Cheryl Hoyle sends two pictures of the caterpillar of a noctuid moth.  There are too many look-alikes for us to be certain of the exact species.

Unknown caterpillar (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Unknown caterpillar (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Yesterday (June 6) at about 4:00 pm I went to the Mount Tolmie reservoir, and there were eight or more tiger swallowtails (both species) flying around and chasing each other and obviously thoroughly enjoying themselves.  It was quite spectacular to watch them.  There were just a couple of Painted Ladies on the reservoir – the nymphalids tend to come a bit later, say half past five or so.

2017 June 6 morning

Rare butterfly alert!  Ron Flower writes:  Today June 5 at Eddy’s storage on Stelly’s Cross Road there were numerous Field Crescents, with many mating on the daisies.

Jody Wells sends a photograph of a Large Yellow Underwing from West Saanich Road near Brentwood Bay yesterday.

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua coma (Lep.: Noctuidae)

Jody Wells

2017 June 4

   We start with three caterpillars.  The first, on Ocean Spray from Mount Tolmie, is Synaxis jubararia  (Also known as Tetracis jubararia). 

Synaxis jubararia (Lep.: Geometridae)   Jeremy Tatum

   The second, also on Ocean Spray from Mount Tolmie, is a noctuid.  Beyond that we cannot go at present, although I am wondering if it might be Eurois occulta.

Unknown (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Jeremy Tatum

   Gordon Hart found the next one on Snowberry in the Highlands.  We are not sure whether it is a noctuid or an erebid.  One possibility we thought of might be a species of Zale, an erebid – but that is only a guess.

Unknown (Lep.: Erebidae or Noctuidae)  Gordon Hart

Here is a spider from UVic, identified for us by Sean McCann.

Araniella displicata (Ara.:  Araneidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   And a fly from an Oak Bay garden, identified by Jeff Skevington.

Eristalis sp. (Dip.: Syrphidae)   Ann Tiplady

This small bee, also from the Oak Bay garden, is kindly identified for us by Cory Sheffield as Lasioglossum sp.

Lasioglossum sp. (Hym.: Halictidae)   Ann Tiplady

   Last fall, Gordon and Anne-Marie Hart found two huge caterpillars within a few feet-minute in space-time in their Highlands garden.  The moth from one of them – a Cerisy’s Eyed Hawk Moth – was shown on this site on May 2.  The second moth emerged today – a female Polyphemus Moth. I hadn’t seen one for some time and I had forgotten how truly huge and spectacular they are.  I released this one at Munn Road, near the hydro station.

Polyphemus Moth Anthaea polyphemus (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Jeremy Tatum

From the large to the small  –  Aziza Cooper photographed Adela septentrionella at Camas Hill on June 3.

Adela septentrionella (Lep.: Incurvariidae)  Aziza Cooper

Aziza Cooper writes:  Today, Sunday, June 4, the VNHS monthly butterfly walk went to Layritz Park. We found a total of 9 species of butterflies there and at our starting point of Mount Tolmie:

Painted Lady – 1

Red Admiral – 1

Pale Tiger Swallowtail – 3

Western Tiger Swallowtail- 6

Anise Swallowtail – 1

Common (Vancouver Island) Ringlet – 40 or more  (Coenonympha tullia)

Cabbage White – 6

Propertius Duskywing – 3

Western Spring Azure – 6

Some photographs of butterflies seen on the walk will appear in tomorrow’s Invert Alert.

2017 June 3

   We’ll start with a butterfly, and then move on to the difficult ones!  In fact, even the butterfly isn’t without questions, because the background colour isn’t as white as it might be. It has a touch of pale yellow, which suggests Western Tiger Swallowtail. But I think we can be confident that this one, photographed by Nathan Fisk at Fort Rodd Hill yesterday, is a Pale Tiger Swallowtail.

Pale Tiger Swallowtail Papilio eurymedon (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Nathan Fisk

   Now for some bees – and we thank Sean McCann for identifying them for us.

  This one was photographed by Ann Tiplady in Oak Bay.  You’ll notice a little reddish spot on it.  Heather Proctor comments on the mite:

Most likely a deutonymphal Parasitellus (Mesostigmata: Parasitidae), which often hitch rides on bumblebees. Despite the name, they aren’t parasites: http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/beemites/Species_Accounts/Parasitellus.htm.  Members of a couple of other genera of parasitids are also sometimes phoretic on Bombus: http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/beemites/Species_Accounts/Parasitidae.htm

So now you know!

Bombus melanopygus (Hym.: Apidae)  Ann Tiplady

Here’s the same bee – I like the tongue!

Bombus melanopygus (Hym.: Apidae)  Ann Tiplady 

And here’s a different individual of the same species, sporting a slightly different colour scheme.

Bombus melanopygus (Hym.: Apidae)  Ann Tiplady

The next one was photographed at Fort Rodd Hill by Nathan Fisk.

Bombus mixtus (Hym.: Apidae) Nathan Fisk

Back to Oak Bay and Ann Tiplady, for a leaf-cutting cuckoo bee – a brood parasite of other bees.

 Coeloxys sp. (Hym.: Megachilidae)  Ann  Tiplady

And now a metallic green sweat bee, genus Agapostemon.

Agapostemon (probably texanus) (Hym.: Halictidae) Ann Tiplady

The next one is a Narcissus Bulb Fly.

Narcissus Bulb Fly Merodon equestris (Dip.: Syrphidae)   Ann Tiplady

   Increasing the level of difficulty, Bryan Gates writes:  My red alder trees have acquired white, silky tufts on the very recent, newly-sprouting leaves.

  Jeremy Tatum writes:  I don’t think we can go to species for this, but we can go to subfamily, and make a guess at genus.  They are woolly aphids.  Since they are on alder, perhaps they are woolly alder aphids Prociphilus sp., but without a close examination of the insect, we can’t be sure of this.

Woolly aphid (Hem.: Aphididae – Eriosomatinae)  Bryan Gates

Woolly aphid (Hem.: Aphididae – Eriosomatinae)  Bryan Gates

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I found this caterpillar on Nootka Rose at UVic today.  I don’t know what it is, but I can have a guess. I have often seen it on rose before.  I believe it is probably a pug (Eupithecia sp). Pug caterpillars often like flowers, so I’ll offer it a Nootka Rose flower this afternoon and see if it likes it. The only pug on Bolte’s monograph on Canadian pugs for which Rosa is mentioned, is E. maestosa.  But that’s just a guess!

Unidentified caterpillar.  Probably Eupithecia sp. (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum

Gordon Hart writes:

The last Victoria area butterfly count from May 20-28, 2017, produced 17 species, more than the 13 reported in 2016, although total numbers were down from 531 last year to 449 in 2017.  Part of the reason was that the May count seemed more like an April count this year. There were still 19 Sara Orangetips, but last year they were already gone and none were reported. Brown and Moss’s Elfins were still seen, but not in 2016.  There were small numbers of later-appearing species such as Cedar Hairstreak, with 4 this year, and 40 last year; and Western Tiger Swallowtail with 16, compared with 67 in 2016.  High counts were Cabbage Whites 285 (2016: 147), and Western Spring Azure 45 (2016: 15).

Thanks to the 15 observers who sent in 33 reports from about 31 locations.