2016 December 20

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I found this caterpillar yesterday on the sidewalk at Pear Street, Saanich.  In the photographs it is sitting on a leaf of red cabbage, which was all I could immediately find to offer it.

2016 December 11

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I’m reverting to the old way of posting Inverts.  I don’t have time to waste trying to figure out how to do it on a new computer!

   There aren’t many invertebrates around just now, so I have had to content myself with photographing just winter moths.  The two below, from my Saanich apartment today, are undoubtedly European Winter Moths Operophtera brumata.

European Winter Moth Operophtera brumata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

European Winter Moth Operophtera brumata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Sometime early in January I’ll post a summary of 2016 butterfly records from Invertebrate Alert on this site.  I could do it now – but I suppose it’s not impossible (maybe not very likely) for someone to see a butterfly before the end of the year!

2016 December 07

   This is a test posting.  I am trying to work out a new way of posting Invert items.  The picture is not a recent one.  It is an old one of Cucullia montanae, just to see if the new method works.   Jeremy Tatum

2016 December 2

   Today we show some photographs of spiders taken by Thomas Barbin in the Highlands district on November 26.   Thanks to Robb Bennett for the identifications.

Eratigena atrica (Ara.:  Agelenidae)  Thomas Barbin

 Eratigena atrica (Ara.:  Agelenidae)  Thomas Barbin

 Philodromus rufus (Ara.: Philodromidae)  Thomas Barbin

 Philodromus rufus (Ara.: Philodromidae)  Thomas Barbin

2016 December 1

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I went to Goldstream Park this morning specifically to try to photograph Operophtera bruceata, which I believe (not necessarily correctly) to be the default winter moth there.  I photographed the two (different) individuals shown below.  I think if I had seen them at my Saanich apartment I wouldn’t have hesitated in calling them brumata, but, being at Goldstream, they are probably bruceata. In other words, both of these individuals fall squarely into the category of “I’m not sure”.

Operophtera bruceata/brumata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

 Operophtera bruceata/brumata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Now more of Thomas Barbin’s fine pictures.  First a Red-cross Shield Bug.  (Viewers will notice that on this site we use the word “bug” only when we mean “bug” – not for any old insect!)  I have labelled the Family as Pentatomidae, though some authors place it in Acanthosomatidae.  Also, the spelling for the species is sometimes given as cruciata.

 Red-cross Shield Bug  Elasmostethus cruciatus (Hem.:Pentatomidae) Thomas Barbin

   Next, two photographs of globose springtails. These days they are no longer insects, but they are entognaths.  That is, they have internal jaws.  The first was identified by Frans Janssens.  The second, related species is not yet identified.  Both were photographed in the Highlands on November 26.

Globose springtail  Ptenothrix macula (Collembola: Dicyrtomidae)  Thomas Barbin

Globose springtail  (Collembola: Dicyrtomidae)  Thomas Barbin

Morgan Davies sends a photograph of a beetle grub from Sidney Island.  For the moment we can take it down to Superfamily level, but no further with certainty.  Nevertheless, there’s a fairly good chance that it is Polyphylla crinita.

Beetle grub,  maybe Polyphylla crinita  (Col.: Scarabaeoidea)  Morgan Davies