2021 August 9

    Butterflies and moths from Jochen Möhr in Metchosin this morning.

   The hooked tip to the end of the antenna in Ochlodes shows up well in this photograph:

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Jochen Möhr

Female Pine White Neophasia menapia (Lep.: Pieridae)  Jochen Möhr

Cosmia praeacuta (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Autographa corusca  (Lep.: Noctuidae – Plusiinae)   Jochen Möhr

2021 August 7 afternoon

    The Catocala moths are a spectacular group.  Our default species is C. aholibah, but this year we seem to be having a nice variety of them.  This one was found in Metchosin by Chris Möhr and photographed by Jochen.  Jochen, Jeremy Tatum and Libby Avis all say Catocala semirelicta.

 Catocala semirelicta (Erebidae – Erebinae)  Jochen Möhr

 Catocala semirelicta (Erebidae – Erebinae)  Jochen Möhr

Jeremy Tatum writes: I recently corresponded with Tim Zurowski concerning some tricky identifications.  This reminds me that Tim has a splendid gallery of natural history photographs, including many butterflies and moths and other invertebrates.  You can find it at

https//timzurowski.smugmug.com/Recent-Gallery-Images

2021 August 7 morning

    Jochen Möhr writes from Metchosin:  Just to let you know that for three days, we have Pine Whites here.  I never saw more than one, though.

Pine White Neophasia menapia (Lep.: Pieridae)  Jochen Möhr

   Rosemary Jorna writes from Kemp Lake:  The micro moth  Diploschizia impigritella  is back on the same Tansy in our yard at the same time  for the sixth year.

Diploschizia impigritella (Lep.: Glyphipterigidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Diploschizia impigritella (Lep.: Glyphipterigidae)  Rosemary Jorna

2021 August 6

   Jody Wells sends pictures of dragonflies and a drone fly from McIntyre Reservoir and Pendray Farm in the last few  days.

Drone Fly Eristalis sp.  (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Jody Wells

   Next is a picture of a female Eight-spotted Skimmer.  Compare with Bryan Gates’s picture of a male in yesterday morning’s posting.

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

   Now a Black Saddlebags from McIntyre reservoir.  They seem to be unusually common in the last two years – especially this year.

Black Saddlebags Tramea lacerata (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Jody Wells

   One supposes that this, too, is a Black Saddlebags!

Black Saddlebags Tramea lacerata (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Jody Wells

Female Western Pondhawk Erythemis collocata (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Jody Wells

2021 August 5 afternoon

   Colias Alert!  Yes!  I saw Ron’s Orange Sulphur on the Teasels at McIntyre reservoir (McIntyre Road, Central Saanich) this afternoon. Most of the large Teasels near the road are brown by now, but further in, away from the road (it is very dusty underfoot) the small Teasels are still in flower, and that’s where I saw the Sulphur.

  Last time we had a large sulphiur invasion, I tried to distinguish between the Orange Sulphur and the Clouded Sulphur by trying to see details of the spots on the underside of the hindwing, believing that one can’t distinguish the species merely by their colour.   I believe I was wrong in this, and we probably had a few genuine Clouded Sulphurs, which I dismissed as Orange Sulphurs because I couldn’t see any difference in the spots.  I am now of the belief that it is quite diifficult to discern small details (variable in any case) in the spots in the field, and that the general background colour is more than adequate to distinguish the species.

   The Orange Sulphur is a deep, deep yellow, with much more than a suspicion of orange.  The orange is more emphatic on the upperside, which the butterfly rarely shows when settled, so the orange is more readily seen on the butterfly in flight.  The Clouded Sulphur is a much paler lemon yellow without a hint of orange.

  Also seen at McIntyre reservoir – Black Saddlebags dragonfly.