2018 June 7

   Request for help.  David Harris, butterfly enthusiast from Sussex, England, is visiting here from Monday June 11 to Tuesday June 19, specifically to see some butterflies.  I imagine that I shall find no difficulty in finding the two Tiger Swallowtails and Lorquin’s Admiral.  There need be no special search for Red Admirals, Painted Ladies or Cabbage Whites, since these are plentiful in Sussex.  But there seems to be a little lull in butterflies at the moment, and I may be hard-pressed to find anything else.  I ask viewers, therefore, to let me know of sightings of any other than the aforementioned species between now and June 19, so that I can show some to David.

   If there are rather few butterflies at the moment, moths are doing a little better.  Jochen Möhr sends photographs of Adela septentrionella from Metchosin.  These remarkable little moths with long antennae are variously known as fairy moths or longhorn moths.  Ren Ferguson has also been seeing them recently on Salt Spring Island. The adult moths seem to be particularly attracted to Ox-eye Daisy.  There is a similar species that occurs locally, A. trigrapha.  It would be interesting to know whether it, too, is attracted to Ox-eye Daisy.

Adela septentrionella (Lep.: Incurvariidae)  Jochen Möhr

Adela septentrionella (Lep.: Incurvariidae)  Jochen Möhr

   The story about the baby who had a caterpillar of a Silver-Spotted Tiger Moth in her mouth (see yesterday’s posting) is on the front page of today’s Times-Colonist, including a photograph of the caterpillar, which is indeed a Silver-Spotted Tiger Moth.  Amazingly, the Times-Colonist spelled Lophocampa argentata correctly, even to the capital L, so we can perhaps forgive them for not setting it in italics.  Less forgivable is their use of “larvae”, as though it were a singular noun.  I erred yesterday in saying that the caterpillar had dropped into the baby’s mouth.  Apparently she picked it up while it was crawling nearby, and placed it in her mouth.

   From the small to the large.  The Polyphemus Moth shown below emerged today from the cocoon found at Rithet’s Bog and shown on March 2.  This is a male.  Matthew Powell’s Polyphemus moth shown on June 4 was a female.  See the difference in the antennae.

Male Polyphemus Moth  Antheraea polyphemus (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Although last Sunday’s  (June 10) butterfly walk produced no butterflies (it was raining!) we found a very hairy moth pupa near Blenkinsop Lake.  Today it produced the moth shown below.

White Satin Moth Leucoma salicis (Lep.: Erebidae – Lymantriinae) Jeremy Tatum

2018 June 6

   Jeremy Tatum sends a photograph of a Sheep Moth caterpillar from Snowberry on Mount Tolmie.  If you find one of these caterpillars, you should be aware that, if handled, the caterpillar may give you a rash.

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

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Some viewers may have heard a news item today on CBC about a caterpillar that fell from a tree into a baby’s mouth.  The baby was taken to the hospital where the caterpillar was identified as a Silver-spotted Tiger Moth (amazing that someone knew!) and the caterpillar and its hairs were painstakingly removed.  This is not, of course, a “funny” story – it could have been very serious and it must have been a terrifying experience for the baby and the mother.  The mother had seen similar caterpillars before and had thought that they turned into beautiful butterflies, but now she learned that this particular one turns into a horrible ugly moth.  To most of us, the Silver-spotted Tiger Moth is a beautiful creature, but we can certainly understand the mother’s view after such a traumatic experience.

  Caterpillars and Rashes.  I have never experienced any trouble at all with tiger moth caterpillars (“woolly bears”  – Arctiinae).  I am more cautious with tussock moths (Lymantriinae) although I have never  actually experienced any discomfort from them.  Some people refer to Lophocampa maculata as the “Spotted Tussock Moth”.  This is quite wrong – it is a tiger moth not a tussock moth.  The only local caterpillar that affects me is that of the Sheep Moth, illustrated above.  Tent caterpillars (Lasiocampidae) don’t affect me at all, though I remember from my younger days that there is a lasiocampid in Britain called the Fox Moth which gives a very bad rash indeed.  I have never tried handling our local American Lappet Moth (a lasiocampid) – I would be a bit wary of it.  There is apparently a South American saturniid whose rash can prove fatal.

   Jochen Möhr sends a picture of a rough stink bug from Metchosin.   Probably wise not to handle it.

Rough stink bug Brochymena sp.: (Hem.: Pentatomidae) Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Here is a Western Tiger Swallowtail, reared from a first instar caterpillar found at Panama Flats last year.  The adult butterfly emerged today, and has already found company of his/her own species at Playfair Park, where there is lots of nectar to be had.

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Jeremy Tatum

2018 June 5

   Nathan Fisk spotted a Lorquin’s Admiral chrysalis on an Ocean Spray bush, at Fort Rodd Hill Learning Meadow, June 4.

Lorquin’s Admiral Limenitis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Nathan Fisk

   Jeremy Tatum writes that last night (June 4) at 6:00 pm there was a Painted Lady on the Mount Tolmie reservoir, and today he saw a beautiful pristine Lorquin’s Admiral at Swan Lake.  Lorquin’s Admiral will presumably pretty soon be a daily sight everywhere.

   Andrew Simon writes:  Many of us are fond of the sweet, crisp taste of Evergreen huckleberries, which may be harvested, frost-covered, even as late as November.  Well, the Silver-spotted Tiger Moth is also fond of this plant, it turns out. Larvae of this moth depend on multiple host plants on the west coast, including conifers such as  Douglas-fir—but I have yet to find anything written regarding its taste for the leathery leaves of Vaccinium ovatum.
Lophocampa argentata observed by Andrew Simon and Kevin Toomer on the shores of Sticks West, Galiano.

   Jeremy Tatum replies:  Yes, while Douglas Fir is the usual foodplant of this species, I have occasionally found the caterpillar on other plants, such as broad-leaved trees.  I haven’t kept a record of such plants, but the leathery leaves of Vaccinium ovatum certainly sounds like an interesting choice for this or any other caterpillar.

Lophocampa argentata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae) Andrew Simon

   Jochen Möhr writes:  This morning three specimens of Nadata gibbosa on my wall by the light – nothing else.

Rough Prominent Nadata gibbosa (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Jochen Möhr

Rough Prominent Nadata gibbosa (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Jochen Möhr

Rough Prominent Nadata gibbosa (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Jochen Möhr

      Lorquin’s Admirals are beginning to show up.  Here’s Annie Pang’s first-of-the-year from Gorge Park, May 31.

Lorquin’s Admiral Limenitis lorquini (Lep.:  Nymphalidae)  Annie Pang

       And that European invader, the Common Emerald, is showing itself in caterpillar form.  Here are two photographs of one from Louis Beaudouin in Lantzville:

Common Emerald Hemithea aestivaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Louis Beaudouin

Common Emerald Hemithea aestivaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Louis Beaudouin

   Matthew Powell sends a photograph of a female Polyphemus Moth  from outside his Esquimalt condominium, May 20.

Female Polyphemus Moth Antheraea polyphemus (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Matthew Powell

2018 June 3

   Aziza Cooper reports that yesterday evening Mount Tolmie at about 6pm had five Painted Ladies, one Pale Tiger Swallowtail, two Lorquin’s Admirals and one Grey Hairstreak.   Aziza also sends a photograph of a caterpillar of a Silver-spotted Tiger Moth crossing the road in Mill Bay.  I think we all know why it was crossing the road.

Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Aziza Cooper

   The June Butterfly Walk was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. today – at which time it was totally overcast and raining.  However, so as not to write off the day completely, Gordon and Anne-Marie Hart and Jeremy Tatum decided to walk along the Lochside trail from Lohbrunner’s to Blenkinsop Lake to see if we could find any caterpillars of the Red Admiral or the Satyr Comma on the nettles.  We didn’t find any, though we did find a few unidentified tortricid caterpillars (which Jeremy will try to rear and identify).   We also found a caterpillar and a pupa of the White Satin Moth.  The extraordinarily hairy pupa of the latter is shown below.  Considerng the circumstances, some limited birdwatching was permitted, and we saw or heard Bewick’s, House and Marsh Wrens, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and Wood Ducks with ducklings.

White Satin Moth Leucoma salicis (Lep.: Erebidae – Lymantriinae)  Jeremy Tatum