2022 August 15 morning

 (No Invertebrate Alert was issued for August 14)

   Val George found these moths on the wall of his Oak Bay house yesterday, August 14:

Autographa californica (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Val George

Emmelina monodactyla (Lep.: Pterophoridae)  Val George

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

   Mike Yip sends a photograph of the first Anise Swallowtail he has seen this year in Nanoose, on a beautiful Tiger Lily.

Anise Swallowtail Papilio zelicaon (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Mike Yip

2022 August 13 morning

   Cheryl Hoyle sends photographs from View Royal, August 12

Misumena vatia (Ara.: Thomisidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Dolichovespula maculata (Hym.: Vespidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

2022 August 12

    Three moths, August 11, from Jochen Möhr in Metchosin, Val George in Oak Bay, and Jeremy Tatum in Saanich:

Autographa corusca (lLep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Pero mizon/morrisonaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Val George

Hypena californica (Lep.: Erebidae – Hypeninae) Jeremy Tatum

   This morning I had a long, leisurely, close look at a fairly fresh Mourning Cloak perched on the northeastern part of the boardwalk at Swan Lake.

   This afternoon I saw a full grown and fully-fed caterpillar of a Sheep Moth wandering around on Lochside Drive north of Blenkinsop Lake, looking for a place to pupate.  I took him home to offer him a nice home in a pile of sterilized potting soil.  He seemed a little confused, so I gave him a single very gentle nudge with the tip of one of my fingers.  That was a mistake.  The resulting itch on my finger is a little worse that that caused by a mosquito or stinging nettle, and it seems to be spreading.  I have sometimes wondered if I have been exaggerating a little on this site when warning viewers not to handle this caterpillar.  I now know that I was not exaggerating.

2022 August 11

    Today this moth was resting on Mike and Barbara McGrenere’s patio, in the Cordova Bay area, when they stepped out for lunch.

Sabulodes aegrotata (Lpe.: Geometridae)  Mike McGrenere

2022 August 9

    Val George sends a photograph of a species of Pero on the wall of his Oak Bay house this morning. Pero is a difficult genus, and we can’t be certain which species this one is.

Pero sp. (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George