2020 July 9

   Jody Wells sends a photograph of a tick from near the airport.  The Order Ixodida (ticks) has three Families, and Dr Heather Proctor tells us that this one is in the Family Ixodidae – which is where, I think, we’ll have to leave it.  The other organism, which you might spot in the photograph, is a vertebrate, an Eastern Cottontail.

Tick (Ixodida:  Ixodidae)  and

Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus (Lagomorpha: Leporidae)

 Jody Wells

Don Nathan writes:  I saw this in my garden (Agnes Street Community Gardens) three days ago.  We are grateful to Norman Gems (via Annie Pang) for identifying this as an immature form of the Carolina Grasshopper, whose rather different-looking adult form is more familiar in late summer.

Carolina Grasshopper Dissosteira carolina (Orth.: Acrididae)  Don Nathan

Here’s a female Western Pondhawk photographed by Barbara Dashwood in her garden in the Gorge area.

Female Western Pondhawk Erythemis collocata (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Barbara Dashwood

   Rosemary Jorna photographed a Bumble Bee in the Kemp Lake area yesterday, dutifully photographing it from several angles.  Annie Pang writes:  I have ruled out B. fervidus because they have black heads and so I do think it is a male B. flavifrons, Yellow Head Bumble Bee, and I will tell you why I think so.  There is no orange band on the abdomen which would indicate a female, and it has a rounded bottom (females have pointy ones with stingers) and no pollen sacs (females pollinate) on hind legs.  But that is the best I can do, and I still could be wrong.  I just posted the pictures Rosemary took, on Bumble Bees of North America Facebook page.  We have some good bee people running it so I am hoping to get a confirm or correct on my ID.  I’d forgotten I was a member!   My compliments to the photographer though.  She did well.

So, we’ll see if Annie gets a response, and thank her for her efforts.

ADDED LATER:   Confirmed!   It’s a male Bombus flavifrons.  Well done, Rosemary!  Well done, Annie!

Bumble Bee,  Bombus flavifrons (Hym.: Apidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Bumble Bee,  Bombus flavifrons (Hym.: Apidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Bumble Bee,  Bombus flavifrons (Hym.: Apidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Bumble Bee,  Bombus flavifrons (Hym.: Apidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   Jochen Möhr sends photographs of Cinnabar Moth caterpillars on Ragwort on Matheson Lake Road.

Cinnabar Moth Tyria jacobaeae (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Jochen Möhr

Cinnabar Moth Tyria jacobaeae (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Jochen Möhr

Cinnabar Moth Tyria jacobaeae (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jochen’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

2 Callizzia amorata

1 Drepana arcuata

1 Lacinipolia strigicollis

Drepana arcuata (Lep.: Drepanidae – Drepaninae)  Jochen Möhr

Lacinipolia strigicollis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

2020 July 8

   Rosemary Jorna sends pictures of a beetle and two bees to challenge us.  Scott Gilmore kindly identified the beetle as a female Rugose Stag Beetle Sinodendron rugosum.

Female Rugose Stag Beetle Sinodendron rugosum (Col.: Lucanidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   This bumble bee will, I think, have to remain Bombus sp.

Bombus sp.  (Hym.: Apidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   We are grateful to  Annie Pang, who points out that the tiny bee below is carrying a ball of pollen on its hind legs, which marks it as belonging to the Family Apidae (the same family as the Honey Bee, all our Bumble Bees as well as a few other bee genera).  As well, its dark, nearly hairless body, combined with its tiny size (Rosemary estimates half a cm), marks it as a Ceratina species, common name “Small Carpenter Bee”.  Unlike their more “fuzzy” cousins in the Apidae family of bees, Ceratina bees do not make the best pollinators, especially the males.  Their lack of body hair and their tiny size do not allow for much transfer of pollen from one plant to another as they nectar and collect pollen.

Small Carpenter Bee Ceratina sp.  (Hym.: Apidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

Maybe Eudonia commortalis (Lep.: Crambidae)

Jochen Möhr

Drepanulatrix secundaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Pasiphila rectangulata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Eulithis xylina (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Stenoporpia excelsaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

    Tracy Hueppelsheuser of the BC Ministry of Agriculture in Abbotsford is interested in records of crane flies of all species, so please keep a look out for them and try to get good-quality close-up photographs, which we’ll post here and forward to Tracy.  Here are a couple from Jochen in Metchosin.  We’ll add identifications if and when we know what species they are.

Crane fly (Dip.: Tipulidae)   Jochen Möhr

Crane fly (Dip.: Tipulidae)   Jochen Möhr

2020 July 7

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  The little moth below emerged from a pupa found on an English Hawthorn leaf at Layritz Park during the VNHS Butterfly Walk on July 5.

Yponomeuta padella (Lep.: Yponomeutidae) Jeremy Tatum

Yponomeuta padella (Lep.: Yponomeutidae) Jeremy Tatum

   The caterpillar below was found on a cottonwood leaf at Panama Flats this morning:

Orgyia antiqua (Lep.: Erebidae – Lymantriinae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Val George writes:  This morning, July 7, I saw Sheep Moths Hemileuca eglanterina everywhere in Uplands Park in Oak Bay.  I saw two moths flying and seven caterpillars in various locations in the park.

Sheep Moth Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Val George

      Ron Flower writes:   Yesterday Monday July  6 this butterfly landed on my neighbour’s driveway here in Royal Oak:

California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Ron Flower

   Another California Tortoiseshell was found yesterday:

California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Sarah Gallagher

   Jochen Möhr’s moths in Metchosin this morning:

Protitame subalbaria (Lep. Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

Probably  Eudonia commortalis (Lep.: Crambidae)

Jochen Möhr

  Here’s a female (note the fat body, loaded with eggs)  Western Tiger Swallowtail photographed by Annie Pang in Gorge Park.

Female Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus  (Lep.: Papilionidae)

Annie Pang

Female Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus  (Lep.: Papilionidae) Annie Pang

   Here are three dragonflies photographed – and identified – by Annie Pang.  Annie gets a Gold Star from Rob Cannings for her identifications.

Cardinal Meadowhawk Sympetrum illotum (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Annie Pang

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

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

2020 July 6 evening

   Wanted:   Good quality close-up photographs of crane flies.   Have a look around your porch light and elsewhere.  There are several species of interest.  Also of interest would be some good-quality photographs of Polistes wasps.  The interest in the latter is aroused in that the abdomen of the Polistes wasp in this morning’s photograph shows rather more black than is usual in P. dominula.

  Jochen Möhr writes from Metchosin:  This morning on the wall merely one moth, which I surmise might be Lacinipolia pensilis. 

Lacinipolia pensilis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr 

2020 July 6 morning

   Report on yesterday’s Butterfly Walk, by Gordon Hart:

On Sunday, July 5, 10 butterfly enthusiasts gathered on Mount Tolmie. Our first sighting was not a butterfly, but a large Sheep Moth that circled the summit several times. We saw five species of butterfly in the area around the reservoir: Painted Lady, Lorquin’s Admiral , Cabbage White, Western Tiger Swallowtail and an Essex Skipper. We then travelled to Layritz Park where Ringlets have been reported since May. We saw five species there, with Essex Skippers being counted in the dozens, or probably hundreds, one Woodland Skipper, at least 10 Cabbage Whites , two (or three?) Western Tiger Swallowtails, and at least eight Lorquin’s Admirals, but not a single Ringlet. We suppose that the first hatch is over, and they are between broods.

One rather sad sighting was an injured Sheep Moth missing one forewing being pursued on the ground by a Paper Wasp, Polistes sp. The moth actively resisted and the wasp finally left, but the moth, being unable to fly, will not have gained much by fighting off the predator.

On a happier note, it was nice to see everyone again, and the walk was a great way to spend my birthday as well!

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Gordon Hart

Lorquin’s Admiral Limenitis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Gordon Hart

Paper Wasp Polistes (probably dominula) (Hym.: Vespidae)

Sheep Moth Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae)
Gordon Hart

    Annie Pang sends a photograph by Rhona McAdam of a Catocala.  Probably the familiar C. aholibah, although Libby Avis points out that it could also be C. ilia.  Both are oak feeders.

Catocala (probably aholibah) (Lep.: Erebidae – Erebinae)  Rhona McAdam

   Ted Dobie sends a photograph of Buprestis aurulenta from his Gordon Head garden.

Buprestis aurulenta (Col.: Buprestidae)  Ted Dobie