2022 September 14

    Jeff Gaskin writes: Today, September 14, I found three  Woodland Skippers in the community garden at Gorge Park.  I heard from Geoffrey Newell today about some nice butterflies he found on September 9.  First of all he saw a Mourning Cloak at Esquimalt Lagoon and then he saw three Pine Whites at Witty’s Lagoon.

  Here is a harvestman, photographed by Ian Cooper and kindly identified for us by Dr Philip Bragg:

Leptobunus parvulus (Opiliones: Phalangiidae)  Ian Cooper

Leptobunus parvulus (Opiliones: Phalangiidae)  Ian Cooper

   Ian Cooper photographed a Drone Fly Eristalis tenax at Colquitz River Park, September  8.  Viewers might like to compare it with the somewhat similar E. arbustorum, shown on August 24 evening.

Eristalis tenax (Dip.: Syrphidae) Ian Cooper

   Ian photographed a male and a female Common (European) Earwig.  Note the shape of the pincers.

Male Common Earwig Forficula auricularia (Derm.: Forficulidae)  Ian Cooper

emale Common Earwig Forficula auricularia (Derm.: Forficulidae)  Ian Cooper

   Ian also photographed this Triangle Spider in Colquitz River Park, September 10:

Hyptiotes gertschi  (Ara.:  Uloboridae)  Ian Cooper

       Also an unidentified geometrid caterpillar:

Unknown geometrid caterpillar (Lep.: Geometridae)  Ian Cooper

2022 September 13

    Jeremy Tatum shows a photograph of a mayfly seen today near his Saanich apartment.

Specklewing Mayfly  Callibaetis ferrrugineus (Eph.: Baetidae)

Jeremy Tatum

Rosemary Jorna photographed this dragonfly at Sooke Potholes on September 12.  Dr Rob Cannings writes to Rosemary:

The Variable Darner lives up to its name and the lateral thoracic stripes vary from being divided into spots (in BC mainly west of the Coast Mountains and in eastern North America – thus the name “interrupta”) to very thin lines, mainly in the BC  Interior and on the Great Plains. In females especially, even on the Coast, the stripes can be undivided and rather broad, as in your specimen, but are almost always not parallel-sided as they are in A. palmata and A. umbrosa. The black line on the face (as distinct from some species such as A. canadensis, which has a pale brown line) is also a useful field mark.

So what you have is a female Variable Darner  Aeshna interrupta . It’s the yellow form – they also come in a less common blue form, coloured more like the males.

Variable Darner Aeshna interrupta (Odo.: Aeshnidae) Rosemary Jorna

Variable Darner Aeshna interrupta (Odo.: Aeshnidae) Rosemary Jorna

Jeff Gaskin writes:  Here is a list of dragonflies I saw today, September 13, at Swan Lake:

2 Blue Dashers,  4 Blue-eyed Darners, and 1 Paddle-tailed Darner.

I only saw the odd Cabbage White at Swan Lake today, nothing else.

Marie O’Shaughnessy sends several more photographs of dragonflies:

Female Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis (Odo.: Libellulidae)

  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Male Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis (Odo.: Libellulidae)

Marie O’Shaughnessy

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor (Odo.: Aeshnidae)

Marie O’Shaughnessy

Eight-spotted Skimmer Libellula forensis (Odo.:  Libellulidae)

Marie O’Shaughnessy

Male Shadow Darner Aeshna umbrosa (Odo.: Aeshnidae)

Marie O’Shaughnessy

Val George writes: This deceased Large Yellow Underwing  Noctua pronuba was on the ground by my front door this morning, September 13. It afforded me the opportunity to show its yellow hindwings, which are rarely apparent in photos of live specimens.

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Val George

2022 September 12

    Jochen Möhr sends a photograph of a caterpillar of Acronicta dactylina  from Metchosin.

Acronicta dactylina (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Marie O’Shaugnessy sends photographs of a variety of dragonflies from the Cowichan Valley and from Swan Lake.

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor (Odo.: Aeshnidae)

Marie O’Shaughnessy

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

Striped Meadowhawk Sympetrum pallipes (Odo.: Libellulidae)    Marie O’Shaughnessy

Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis (Odo.: Libellulidae) Marie O’Shaughnessy

Autumn, or Yellow-legged Meadowhawk Sympetrum vicinum (Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

   Rosemary Jorna sends a photograph of a late Lorquin’s Admiral from Sooke Potholes today.

Lorquin’s Admiral  Limenitis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Rosemary Jorna

2022 September 11

    Jeff Gaskin writes:  One single Pine White was seen along Sooke Road, at 3762 Sooke Road to be exact, yesterday, September 10. This spot was about 2 km east of Kangaroo Road and 1 km west of Humpback Road.

   Jeremy Tatum saw a Ringlet at Quick’s Bottom today, September 11.

2022 September 10 evening

    Rob Gowan sends some photos from Saratoga Beach/Miracle Beach taken today.  Thanks to Dr Rob Cannings for identifying the Laphria and confirming the Neomochtherus.

Two-striped Grasshopper Melanoplus bivittatus (Orth.: Acrididae)  Rob Gowan

Migratory Grasshopper Melanoplus (probably sanguinipes)(Orth.: Acrididae)  Rob Gowan

Fall Field Cricket Gryllus pennsylvanicus (Orth.: Gryllidae)  Rob Gowan

Robber fly Neomochtherus willingstoni (Dip.: Asilidae)  Rob Gowan

Robber fly Laphria fernaldi (Dip.: Asilidae)  Rob Gowan

Here’s a spider from Ian Cooper:

Eratigena duellica (Ara.: Agelenidae)  Ian Cooper

And here are three hover flies, also known as flower flies, or more often, just syrphids, that we have not yet been able to identify.

Hover fly  (Dip.:  Syrphidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Hover fly  (Dip.:  Syrphidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Hover fly  (Dip.:  Syrphidae)  Ian Cooper

Hover fly  (Dip.:  Syrphidae)  Ian Cooper