2019 September 15

   Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

2 Drepanulatrix sp.

1 Agrochola purpurea

1 Noctua pronuba

Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Sunira decipiens (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Not many butterflies and moths now, but there are still some invertebrates to see.  Anyone who says that snails don’t move fast should try to photograph one!

Cornu aspersum (Pul.: Helicidae)   Jeremy Tatum

2019 Sepember 14

Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin, September 13 and 14

                                                 13   14

Drepanulatrix sp.                   1      2                                

Lacinipolia pensilis                 2                                                

Neoalcis californiaria            1       1                                   

Udea profundalis                    4      1                                   

2019 September 13

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Today at Tod Creek Flats I saw two Woodland Skippers and one Cabbage White.  And that’s all for today, folks!

2019 September 12 afternoon

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I have never paid much attention to those little grass veneer moths that one sees almost everywhere in grassy fields, regarding them as both unidentifiable and uninteresting.  Jochen Möhr and Libby Avis coincidentally within a few days of each other obtained excellent photographs of these little moths, showing what interesting creatures they are.  Libby’s is identified as

Agriphila attenuata.  We haven’t as yet identified Jochen’s to species, but it is almost certainly of the same genus.

Agriphila attenuata (Lep.: Crambidae)  Libby Avis

Probably Agriphila sp. (Lep.: Crambidae)  Jochen Möhr

  There is a front page story in today’s Times-Colonist saying that three specimens of the Asian Giant Hornet Vespa mandarinia have been seen in Nanaimo.  They are said to vary in length from 3.5 cm to 5 cm (queens) with a wingspan of 7 mm.  Go and get a ruler and see what these numbers really mean!

2019 September 12 morning

   Erratum:   On September 11, I had misidentified a dragonfly photographed by Jody Wells.  The correction has now been made and the insect in now correctly labelled.

   Cheryl Hoyle sends photographs of some beetles, and we are most grateful to Charlene Wood for identifying them.

The first, photographed at Port Alberni, September 8, is a leaf beetle of the family Chrysomelidae.  This is a large family of small beetles, which need very close examination for safe identification, so we shall just leave it as a chrysomelid.

Leaf beetle (Col.: Chrysomelidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

   Next is a ground beetle, Pterostichus algidus, from Bamfield, September 7.

Pterostichus algidus (Col.: Carabidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

   Charlene writes that the third, photographed at Bamfield on September 9, is a cool intertidal beach specialist staphylinid Pictured Rove Beetle Thinopinus pictus. They mostly feed on beach hoppers (Amphipoda).

Thinopinus pictus (Col.: Staphylinidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

   Jochen Möhr sends a picture of a spider.  Dr Robb Bennett writes:  The spider is a mature male Agelenopsis grass funnel-web spider. Most likely either Agelenopsis actuosa or Agelenopsis oklahoma – they are the only two in our area which have a very large circular embolus (the black object immediately below the spider’s eye area). There are several other species of Agelenopsis around but their emboli are less conspicuous, much less sticky-outy (a technical term).

Agelenopsis actuosa or A. oklahoma (Ara.: Agelenidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Rick and Libby Avis saw a Ringlet and a Woodland Skipper at Island View Beach on September 6, and photographed a female Caenurgina erechtea.

Caenurgina erechtea (Lep.: Erebidae – Erebinae) Rick Avis

Scott Gilmore photographed a Fall Webworm – the caterpillar of the moth Hyphantria cunea in his Lantzville garden today:

Hyphantria cunea (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Scott Gilmore

   Jeremy Tatum photographed a caterpillar from East Sooke Park.   Not sure whether it is Habrosyne scripta  or Pseudothyatira cymatophoroides.  Shall have to wait until next spring to be sure.

 (Lep.: Drepanidae – Thysanurinae)  Jeremy Tatum

Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

1 Fishia illocata

6 Lacinipolia pensilis

2 Neoalcis californiaria

1 Platyptilia carduidactylus

4 Xestia finatimis complex 

Platyptilia carduidactylus (Lep.:  Pterophoridae)  Jochen Möhr

Xestia finatimis complex (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Fishea illocata (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr