2023 August 19

On August 14 Jochen Möhr found this False Widow spider making a meal out of a Pero moth.

Steatoda grossa (Ara.: Theridiidae)
with Pero sp. (Lep.: Geometridae)
Jochen Möhr

He also photographed this small moth on August 14:

Acleris variegata (Lep.: Tortricidae)  Jochen Möhr

And this one on August 18:

Coryphista meadii  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Aziza Cooper writes:
On August 16 at Goldstream campground there was one moth on a shower building.  Also that day a katydid was on my porch in Saanich.

On August 17, several wasps were floating on the puddle of spring water on Lochside Drive north of Blenkinsop Lake.

On Aug. 16 at Goldstream Park there were three Woodland Skippers. Along the railroad tracks near Humpback Road were one Woodland Skipper and a Western Tiger Swallowtail.

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Aziza Cooper

Drumming Katydid  Meconema thalassinum (Orth.: Tettigoniidae)  Aziza Cooper

European Paper Wasp Polistes dominula (Hym.: Vespidae)
Aziza Cooper

European Paper Wasps Polistes dominula (Hym.: Vespidae)
Aziza Cooper

Val George found these two moths on the wall of his Oak Bay house this morning, August, 19:

Sabulodes aegrotata  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

Drepanulatrix sp. (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

Jeremy Tatum writes:  Today, I visited the area of the Branded Skipper colony on Cordova (Saanichton) Spit.  I saw only two skippers there, both of them Woodland Skippers.   On the way there I saw a Purplish Copper (the first I have seen since 2021) along Island View Beach.  Also found there, along Island View Beach, was a (second instar?) caterpillar of Lorquin’s Admiral on a leaf of Malus fusca  (not yet constructed a hibernaculum).

2023 August 18 evening

August Butterfly Count
Gordon Hart

Hello, Butterfly Watchers,

The August count period starts Saturday August 19 until Sunday August 27. This is an informal census of butterfly numbers and species in Greater Victoria. The area is defined by the Christmas Bird Count circle, extending from Victoria to Brentwood Bay and Island View Road in Central Saanich, and west to Happy Valley and Triangle Mountain, and Langford Lake and Goldstream areas.

You can submit a count any time over the count period, just use a separate form for each count and location. In the case of repeat or duplicate counts, I will use the higher numbers. To submit counts, please use the form from the VNHS website at http://www.vicnhs.bc.ca/?p=33

If you have difficulty with the form, just send me an email with the information.

Thank-you for submitting your sightings and good luck with your count.

Gordon

Gordon Hart,
Butterfly Count Coordinator,
Victoria Natural History Society

Marie O’Shaughnessy writes that on August 17 at McIntyre Reservoir she saw

2 Common Green Darners
Many Tule Bluets mating and in tandem
3 Black Saddlebags     (Saddlebagses?)
2 Paddle-tailed Darners
Many Blue Dashers
1 Blue-eyed Darner
4 Eight-spotted Skimmers

She sends these two photographs:

Common Green Darner Anax junius  (Odo.: Aeshnidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Black Saddlebags Tramia lacerata (Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

2023 August 17 evening

   For the last several days it has been too hot for both humans and for butterflies to spend much time outside in the open, so butterfly sightings have been few.  However, there are still some to be seen.  Marie O’Shaughnessy photographed a Painted Lady and a Woodland Skipper, as well as the moth Autographa californica at McIntyre reservoir today.  There was a Lorquin’s Admiral at Gordon Hart’s Highlands home today.  And in Metchosin, Jochen Möhr saw a Pine White and photographed a Red Admiral.  Jeff Gaskin writes: Today, August 17, I saw another Lorquin’s Admiral in the Gorge.  Bill Dancer told me he saw a rather late Western Tiger Swallowtail the other day or on the 15th in his backyard on Sherwood Road near Arbutus Road.   Cabbage Whites and Woodland Skippers are still fairly numerous.

 Painted Lady Vanessa cardui  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Autographa californica  (Lep.: Noctuidae – Plusiinae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Lep.: Nymphalidae)   Jochen Möhr

2023 August 17 morning

   Marie O’Shaughnessy spent an hour yesterday in the sweltering heat at Swan Lake.  She writes:
The only butterflies I saw were two Woodland Skippers.

I saw several Blue Dashers, along with Tule Bluets. Both these species appear to be the most abundant odonates around at most places I frequent. Also at Swan Lake I saw one Eight-spotted Skimmer.

Also 3-4 Black Saddlebags. Two were seen in tandem, mating in flight.

Also  a green-faced  damselfly but unable to ID.  [Jeremy Tatum writes:  I’m pretty sure it’s Ischnura cervula.] 2-3 Paddle-tail Darners and 1 Common Green Darner flying around.

Black Saddlebags Tramea lacerata (Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Eight-spotted Skimmer Libellula forensis (Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Pacific Forktail Ischnura cervula (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy