2023 April 12

    Some sightings today, April 12, from Val George, who writes: The California Tortoiseshell was at the reservoir on Mount Tolmie along with a second one; the Orthosia hibisci was on the wall of my Oak Bay house; and the Emmelina
monodactyla was sitting on the door of my parked car.

California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Val George

Orthosia hibisci  (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Val George

2023 April 9

   Val George sends photographs from his Oak Bay home of two geometrid moths that are notoriously difficult to identify.   The first is one of Eupithecia ravocostaliata/nevadata.  Is the mid-costal patch rectangular (ravocostaliata)
or triangular (nevadata)?   The second is a species of Drepanulatrix – possibly secundaria or possibly monicaria.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  I don’t have the courage to label either of these moths with confident identifications at species
level.  They are already notoriously difficult – I would just muddy the waters if I were to label them as certain identifications and get them wrong.

Eupithecia ravocostaliata/nevadata   (Lep.: Geometridae)   Val George

Drepanulatrix sp.  (Lep.: Geometridae)   Val George

2023 April 7

   Jochen Möhr seems to have solved the problem of how to distinguish between Eupithecia nevadata  and E. ravocostaliata – by photographing one of each at his Metchosin home last night!  Look at the shape of the dark mid-costal patch – triangular in nevadata and a thin rectangle in ravocostaliata.   Klaus Bolte, in his monograph on Canadian pugs, also mentions that the shade of brown in the two species is different.  Difficult to describe in words, but quite evident in Jochen’s photographs.

Eupithecia nevadata   (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Eupithecia ravocostaliata   (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jochen also photographed an Emmelina monodactyla:

Emmelina monodactyla  (Lep.: Pterophoridae)  Jochen Möhr

   Val George photographed an Oak Winter Highflyer that was was on the wall of his Oak Bay house this morning, April 7:

Hydriomena nubilofasciata  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

      Jeff Gaskin saw his first of the year Cabbage White today, April 07, in Helmcken Centennial Park.

2023 April 6

   Jochen Möhr sends photographs from Metchosin from the last couple of nights.  It is often difficult to distinguish between Eupithecia ravocostaliata and E. nevadata.   The mid-costal dark patch is supposed to be rectangular in the former and triangular in the latter.  The difficulty is that this patch is often somewhat ill-defined in shape and it is difficult to say whether it is more nearly triangular or more nearly rectangular.  The patch looks unambiguously triangular in this one, so we feel fairly confident in labelling it Eupithecia nevadata.

Eupithecia nevadata (Lep.: Geometridae)   JochenMöhr

Hypena californica  (Lep.: Erebidae – Hypeninae) Jochen Möhr

Alucita montana  (Lep.: Alucitidae) Jochen Möhr