2021 June 6

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Here is a now full-grown caterpillar of a Sheep Moth reared from eggs found on Snowberry on Mount Tolmie – see Invertebrate Alert for April 4.  The spines on the caterpillar look very similar to the spines on the caterpillar of a comma butterfly (see yesterday’s Invert Alert), but they are in reality very different.  The spines on the comma caterpillar are quite harmless, but those on the Sheep Moth caterpillar will give you a nasty rash if you touch them.

Sheep Moth Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Here’s a photograph of a rather small noctuid (only 15 mm from head to apex of the forewing) raised from a caterpillar found on willow along Munn Road.  This was quite difficult to identify, and I am very grateful to Libby Avis for her efforts to identify it.

Brachylomia thula (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Jochen Möhr reports just one lonely Stenoporpia excelsaria.   He writes:  Although yesterday’s flew off when I tried to get a better picture, it may still be the same one.

Stenoporpia excelsaria (Lep.: Geometridae)   Jochen Möhr

2021 June 5

   Jochen Möhr reports a Smerinthus ophthalmica and a Stenoporpia excelsaria from Metchosin this morning.  A photograph of the latter is shown below.  Thanks to Libby Avis for the identification.  In case anyone is wondering, according to Libby:  “S. pulmonaria has lighter ground colour and the median line curves down into a bulge near the outside edge, then back up again, whereas it’s straight and peters out just before the costa in excelsaria.”   So now you know!

Stenoporpia excelsaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum has two caterpillars to show.  The first is on Snowberry.  The second is on willow.

Behrensia conchiformis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   The following may be of interest, from the June Newsletter of Sandringham Care Home in Fort Street, Victoria:

   Our latest project is raising caterpillars and ultimately butterflies.  This week we received a kit that has 29 Painted Lady larvae.  This type of butterfly is one of the most widespread species in the world.  Similar to the Monarch they do migrate; however, the Painted Ladies travel irregularly and don’t have a set destination.

   With the guided expertise of a resident the staff transferred each larva into individual vials with butterfly food (a mixture of minerals, vitamins and plant matter in a soy base).  When they are fully grown the larvae will crawl to the top of the vial and form a chrysalis.  Once the chrysalis has formed they will all be transferred into a flight cage or net.  Adult butterflies are set to emerge within 7-10 days of forming the chrysalis.

  Over the next 3-4 weeks staff and residents look forward to watching and having a hands-on approach to the metamorphosis of these butterflies.  We plan to release the butterflies in our beautiful backyard garden 4-7 days after they emerge.  We will wait for a hot sunny day.  With all the lovely flowers and nectar plants in our backyard, we hope the butterflies stay close and the cycle can repeat.  We will keep you posted on their progress!

2021 June 04

Message from Gordon Hart – June Butterfly Walk.

   Our walk is scheduled for Sunday June 5, at 1 p.m. As mentioned in the VNHS calendar, it is weather-dependent. The forecast at this point is for cool temperatures and a good chance of showers. For this reason, it is unlikely to go ahead and I will probably not attend. If the weather at the time is better than forecast, some people may meet at Mt Tolmie. If so, please respect our public health guidelines and maintain your social distance and wear a mask if necessary.
Next month, we will hope for better weather, and fewer Covid restrictions.

Thanks,
Gordon

Gordon Hart,
Butterfly Count Coordinator
Victoria Natural History Society

Jeremy Tatum adds:  If the weather is questionable, I’ll go up to Mount Tolmie anyway, since I live only three minutes away, and we’ll see what we can find.

   Gordon continues:  After the last few days of warm weather, we had an interesting event this morning. A gardening friend had recently given Anne-Marie some dahlias, which were planted out last week.  This morning our friend emailed us telling us to look for Coreopsis Beetles which had “flown in”. Sure enough, one plant was covered in dozens of beetles. By the end of the day, there were about 150 collected from this one plant, with maybe five from neighbouring plants. I think they emerged from pupae which had overwintered in the soil that came with the plant. I think they normally eat Coreopsis and other daisy-like composites, and I had not heard of them eating dahlias. On May 22, 2015, I sent in pictures of these beetles, currently on page 347 of the Invertebrate Alert. At that time, they were on a Coreopsis plant, and that year they were also found in numbers at Panama Flats on a yellow-flowered Bidens sp. (Beggarticks).

Coreopsis Beetle Calligrapha californica (Col.: Chrysomelidae)  Gordon Hart

   Rosemary Jorna writes:  I have two photos from the Sooke Potholes to day

Western Pine Elfin Incisalia eryphon June 3, 2021 Sooke Potholes

And I was trying for the orchid 

Insects (aphids?) June 3, 2021 Sooke Potholes

There are one  each of a Western Tiger Swallowtail and a Pale Tiger Swallowtail cruising in our Kenp Lake yard but they will not settle.

Western Pine Elfin Incisalia eryphon (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   Yes, writes Jeremy Tatum, I’d call them aphids, or, perhaps in the style of this site, aphidids, but I don’t think we’re going to be able to identify them!   It sometimes helps to know the plant they are feeding upon.

Aphids (Hem.:  Aphididae)  Rosemary Jorna

2021 June 3

   Sher Falls sends a picture of a snakefly from Harewood Plains, Nanaimo, June 1.

Snakefly. Probably Agulla sp. (Raph.: Raphidiidae)  Sher Falls

   Jochen Möhr sends a picture of a beautiful moth from Metchosin this morning.   Formerly called Pheosia rimosa, Libby Avis tells us that it is now Pheosia californica.

Pheosia californica (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Jochen Möhr

2021 June 2

   Here’s a miscellany from Mr E.  The first is a green lacewing.  There are several species, in two genera. We are not sure which genus this one is, so we’ll leave it for the moment at Family level.

Green Lacewing (Neu.: Chrysopidae)   Mr E

(As yet) unidentified weevil (Col.: Curculionidae)   Mr E

Anthrenus verbasci (Col.: Dermestidae)  Mr E

Bug eggs (Hem.: – possibly Pentatomidae)   Mr E

If anyone can help with the fly below, please do let us know.  Jeremy Tatum thinks that it is probably a member of the Family Muscidae.

Fly – (Dip.: – perhaps Muscidae)      Mr E

Narcissus Bulb Fly Merodon equestris (Dip.: Syrphidae)   Mr E

     Thanks to Libby Avis for identifying the moth below.  (There are two species locally, and Libby sorted them out for us!)

Adela septentrionella (Lep.: Adelidae)   Mr E

Adela septentrionella (Lep.: Adelidae)   Mr E

Adela septentrionella (Lep.: Adelidae)   Mr E

   Aziza Cooper sends photographs of two bumble bees and a moth.    Thanks to Steven Roias for identifying the bees for us.   The first is Bombus californicus, which, writes Steven, was “formerly in the B. fervidus complex”.

Bombus californicus (Hym.: Apidae)  Aziza Cooper

Bombus melanopygus (Hym.: Apidae)   Aziza Cooper

Spilosoma virginica (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)   Aziza Cooper

   On May 8 Elisabeth Ruiter showed a photograph of a caterpillar of Lorquin’s Admiral in Cowichan.

She successfully reared it, and the adult butterfly emerged yesterday:

Lorquin’s Admiral Limenitis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae)   Elisabeth Ruiter

   Gordon Hart reports a Painted Lady at Panama Flats on June 1.

Jochen Möhr photographed a Nadata gibbosa and an Apamea sordens in Metchosin this morning:

Nadata gibbosa (Lep.: Notodontidae)   Jochen Möhr

Apamea sordens (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Jochen Möhr