2016 July 24

   Annie Pang sends a photograph of a Bald-faced Hornet,

Bald-faced Hornet Dolichovespula maculata (Hym.: Vespidae)  Annie Pang

   Liam Singh writes:  There were three or four Black Saddlebags today at Rathtrevor Park.

Black Saddlebags Tramea lacerata (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Liam Singh

Black Saddlebags Tramea lacerata (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Liam Singh

   Devon Parker writes:  My Dad and I went for looking for butterflies at Mount Brenton/Mount Hall area near Chemainus today (July 24). We found a total of 104 butterflies comprising 13 different species. I also witnessed a very unusual behaviour of female Clodius Parnassian ovipositing eggs on the leaves of Alder, not Bleeding Heart.

Sightings for the day:
1 Grey Hairstreak
1 Red Admiral
1 Western Sulphur
1 Western Meadow Fritillary
2 Comma sp.
2 Western Tiger Swallowtails
3 Dun Skippers
6 Anna’s Blue
8 Lorquin’s Admiral
12 Clodius Parnassian
13 Mariposa Coppers
15 Blues (most likely all Anna’s)
39 Fritillaries (Speyeria sp.)

Clodius Parnassian Parnassius clodius  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Devon Parker

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Not many butterflies left in the immediate vicinity of Victoria just now, so it is good to hear that there are still plenty elsewhere on the Island.  My visit to Mount Tolmie at 6:00 this evening was not quite as profitable as Devon’s  to  Mounts Brenton and Mount Hall, but for the record there were two Red Admirals there.

2016 July 23

   Jeremy Tatum writes:   Mount Tolmie, 6:00 pm. July 23.  A Red Admiral on the reservoir, and a Painted Lady on the roadside near the Jeffery Pine.

   Annie Pang sends a variety of photographs from Gorge Park.  First a small fly, identified by Dr Matthias Buck as a lauxaniid.

Fly (Dip.: Lauxaniidae)   Annie Pang

   Next, a small moth:

Many-plumed moth Alucita montana (Lep.: Alucitidae)  Annie Pang

   Then a spider:

Araneus diadematus (Ara.: Araneidae)   Annie Pang

2016 July 22

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I found a third-instar Red Admiral caterpillar at Swan Lake today.  Unlike the Lorquin’s Admiral caterpillars which I reported on July 20, which overwinter as young caterpillars, the Red Admiral caterpillar will produce an adult butterfly later this summer.

2016 July 21

   Val George writes:  This Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentata was beside a road near my house in Oak Bay on July 21.

Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)

Val George

   Samantha sends a photograph of a group of nymphs of the Birch Bug – appropriately on a birch catkin. Thanks to Scott Gilmore for the identification. There is an interesting account of this species at

http://entomofaune.qc.ca/entomofaune/punaises/punaises_acanthosomatidae.html

 Birch Bug Elasmucha lateralis (Hem.: Acanthosomatidae)

Samantha

   Annie Pang sends a photograph of  the beetle Leptura obliterata, from Gorge Park, July 21.

 Leptura obliterata (Col.: Cerambycidae)  Annie Pang

2016 July 20

   Annie Pang sends a photograph of a leaf-cutting bee from Gorge Park, July 19.

Megachile sp. (probably perihirta) (Hym.: Megachilidae)  Annie Pang

   Jeff Gaskin writes:  Other than the odd Lorquin’s Admiral and Western Tiger Swallowtail that I’ve been seeing today in Colwood, I saw several Pine Whites. There were 17 that I counted at the Royal Roads University and another 9 along Goldstream Avenue right by the Royal Colwood Golf Course.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I visited Swan Lake for about twenty minutes today, and I didn’t see any adult butterflies at all.  However, I found two tiny (3 mm, first instar) caterpillars of Lorquin’s Admiral, both on Ocean Spray. Lorquin’s Admiral spends the winter as a young caterpillar. There were two rather different geometrid moths under the lights at the front door of the Nature House – a somewhat modest Idaea dimidiata and a spectacular Pero mizon.  At 4:00 p.m. there were three butterflies at the top of Mount Tolmie.  A Western Tiger Swallowtail on the reservoir;  a pristine fresh Anise Swallowtail flying around the picnic table area, occasionally settling on the plum tree at the top of the stairs; and a Painted Lady on the roadside next to the Jeffery Pine.