2024 June 28

Jeremy Tatum writes:  A couple of days ago I posted the image below, taken by Ian Cooper, as an “unknown beetle larva”.  I subsequently sent the image to beetle expert Charlene Woods wondering if perhaps she might be able to identify it.   Embarrassment – it wasn’t a beetle at all, but something quite different! This, however, was no obstacle to Charlene, who identified it as the larva of a Brown Lacewing (Hemerobiidae), and probably genus Hemerobius.   I hastily asked Ian if he would go out and photograph an adult brown lacewing for us, so we could see what the larva was a larva of.   Because brown lacewing larvae feed on aphids, you can apparently buy the larvae by the bucket-load if you know where, although Ian’s were genuinely wild ones!   Here are Ian’s two photographs:

Larva of a Brown Lacewing, probably Hemerobius sp.  (Neu.: Hemerobiidae)  Ian Cooper

Adult Brown Lacewing  (Neu.: Hemerobiidae)  Ian Cooper

Here’s a photograph of a running crab spider photographed by Ian Cooper along the Galloping Goose trail in View Royal on June 24.

Philodromus rufus  (Ara.: Philodromidae)  Ian Cooper

Anne Ashley sent this photograph of a Golden Jewel Beetle photographed by her neighbour Colleen Irwin in the Fairfield Gonzales area of Victoria.

Golden Jewel Beetle   Buprestis aurulenta  (Col.: Buprestidae)  Colleen Irwin

Here are the results of a predawn and early morning shoot by Ian Cooper this morning, June 28.  All were taken at either *Colquitz River Park in Saanich or the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.

#Larva of Asian Ladybeetle  Harmonia axyridis (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Ian Cooper

#Larva of Seven-spotted Ladybird  Coccinella septempunctata  (Col.: Coccinellidae)
Ian Cooper

#Larva of Seven-spotted Ladybird  Coccinella septempunctata  (Col.: Coccinellidae)
Ian Cooper

Seven-spotted Ladybird  Coccinella septempunctata  (Col.: Coccinellidae)
Ian Cooper

*Ambigolimax valentianus (Pul.: Limacidae)   Ian Cooper

*Spittle Bug – Philaenus spumarius (Hem.: Cercopidae)   Ian Cooper

#Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Ian Cooper

# Callobius pictus (Ara.: Amaurobiidae)   Ian Cooper

Jeremy Tatum writes:  I went to Mount Tolmie today at 5:30 pm, and the one and only butterfly I saw there was a single Red Admiral just outside the entrance to the reservoir.  That reminds me that, earlier this week, while I was doing a cryptic crossword, I discovered that Red Admiral and the Spanish football team Real Madrid are anagrams of each other.

Kirsten Mills writes:   Today, June 28, Jeff Gaskin and I travelled to Nanaimo.  Along Nanaimo River Road, particularly at Elk Trails Way,  we saw two  Clodius Parnassians.  A little further down the road or towards the highway was a Dun Skipper.

Clodius Parnassian  Parnassius clodius  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Kirsten Mills

Clodius Parnassian  Parnassius clodius  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Kirsten Mills

Clodius Parnassian  Parnassius clodius  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Kirsten Mills

Butterfliers who see any parnassian butterflies are reminded to examine them closely in case any of them might be P. smintheus.  These photographs above are clearly P. clodius, but if you see any red spot on the forewing, or if the antennae are chequered, you may have smintheus.

2024 June 27

   Val George sends a photograph of a Green Pug from the wall of his Oak Bay house this morning, June 27.

Green Pug  Pasiphila rectangulata  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

Jochen Möhr writes from Metchosin:  Yesterday (June 26) finally, after another great hiatus – a moth.  A Cinnabar Moth Tyria jacbaeae.

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

2024 June 26 evening

Marie O’Shaughnessy visited Mount Tolmie at 5:30 pm yesterday, June 25.  She saw:

1 Cabbage  White
2 Western Tiger Swallowtails
1 Lorquin’s Admiral
2 Red Admirals
2 Painted Ladies

Red Admiral  Vanessa atalanta  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)   Marie O’Shaughnessy

Here are more miscellaneous invertebrates from Ian Cooper.
* = Colquitz River Park in Saanich
# = Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal 9 km marker

#Limax maximus (Pul.: Limacidae)    Ian Cooper

*Very small unidentified fly (Diptera)   Ian Cooper
I see these often in Colquitz River Park. They look like miniature houseflies,
but with proportionally larger iridescent wings.

#Springtail  Orchesella cincta (Coll.: Orchesellidae)   Ian Cooper

#Crane fly – possibly Tipula paludosa (Dip.: Tipulidae)
Possibly recently emerged from its pupal state

Plant bug (Hem: Miridae)   Ian Cooper

2024 June 26

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Owing to some procedural error in my posting of yesterday’s photographs, some of the photographs did not appear as sharp as they should have done.  I have removed them from yesterday’s posting, and I’ll make another attempt here.  ‘Pologies to all.

Aziza Cooper wrote: At the field north of Stelly’s Cross Road and West Saanich Rd. there were 17+ Essex Skippers. Further north near the cemetery along W. Saanich Rd. there were two Field Crescents.

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola  (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Aziza Cooper

Field Crescent Phyciodes pulchella  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Aziza Cooper

Ian Cooper photographed the fly shown below.  We have not been able to identify it with certainty. Jeremy Tatum suggested Psilidae, but we cannot find a good fit.  If any viewer can help with this identification, please do let us know.

Unknown fly  (Diptera)   Ian Cooper

Unknown fly  (Diptera)   Ian Cooper

2024 June 25

   Marie O’Shaughnessy photographed this young Blue Dasher at Outerbridge Park,  June 23:

Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Marie saw these between 4 and 5 pm at Government House on June 24:

4 Western Tiger Swallowtails
2 Cabbage Whites
6 Essex Skippers
1 Lorquin’s Admiral
1 Blue-eyed Darner.

 She photographed one of the Western Tiger Swallowtails:

Western Tiger Swallowtail  Pterourus rutulus  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Here are a few results of recent overnight photo shoots by Ian Cooper:

Hedya nubiferana  (Lep.: Tortricidae)   Ian Cooper

Protolophus niger (Opiliones:  Protolophidae)   Ian Cooper

Mosquito  (Dip.: Culicidae)  Ian Cooper

We don’t know what this is, but we presume it is an immature stage (nymph) of some bug:

Presumed nymph of a bug (Hemiptera)  Ian Cooper

Enoplognatha ovata (Ara.: Theridiidae)   Ian Cooper

An Enoplognatha ovata (Ara.: Theridiidae) has captured a Strawberry Root Weevil Otiorhynchus ovatus (Col.: Curculionidae).   Ian Cooper

Enoplognatha ovata variant with distinctive red ‘candy stripe’ markings (Ara.: Theridiidae)
Ian Cooper

Seven-spotted Ladybird – Coccinella septempunctata (Col.: Coccinellidae)   Ian Cooper

Jeremy Tatum writes:  At 5:30 this afternoon (June 25) there were two Painted Ladies and one Red Admiral at the top of Christmas Hill.

Aziza Cooper writes:  Today, June 25, at Layritz Park there were two Western Tiger Swallowtails, one Cabbage White and two Lorquin’s Admirals. At Viaduct Flats there was one Essex Skipper.

Butterflies still missing this year:    Clodius Parnassian,    Margined White,    Purplish Copper,    Grey Hairstreak,    Mylitta Crescent.