2018 May 28

   A plea from the Moderator.   We are getting lots of exciting contributions at this time of year, which is a wonderful situation to be in – but of course the volume of contributions does make for a little bit of work.  This plea is not aimed at anyone in particular and it may sound like the Pontifications of a Pompous Professor to first-year students.  All the same it would be an immense help to the Moderator if contributors could spend just a minute or so proofreading the text of their contributions for spelling, capitalization of proper names, no abbreviations please, and little details like that.  I know that it takes a little extra to do it, but after all,  if you don’t do it, the Moderator has to – for all entries!   When a contribution comes in with all the text perfected, all I have to do is a quick copy-n-paste, and it is done in a second.  Otherwise it takes a few minutes per entry, and when there are half-a-dozen contributions, that begins to mount up.  But believe me – I very much appreciate all contributions, whether perfectly composed or not!

   Jeff Gaskin writes:  Today, May 28, I saw my first of the year Lorquin’s Admirals.  One was in Gorge Park, and the other flew through my Mom’s backyard on Wascana Street.  Kirsten Mills told me she saw a Lorquin’s Admiral on Saturday May 26, behind the Swan Lake nature house, so there seem to be a few of them around already.

  Bryan Gates writes:  I found this caterpillar today, May 28, 2018, in my yard at Saratoga Beach, Black Creek, B.C.  (near the Oyster River).

Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Bryan Gates

2018 May 27 evening

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  On May 17 morning I posted pictures of three unidentified caterpillars, with speculation as to what they were.  The one I speculated as Choristoneura rosaceana was harbouring hymenopterous (Braconidae?) parasitoids, and it died, so we shall never know.  We probably shan’t see the adult of the geometrid caterpillar until early next year.  The adult moth from the caterpillar that was speculated to be Hedya nubiferana emerged today, and it turned out indeed to be that species.  Photograph below.

Hedya nubiferana (Lep.: Tortricidae)  Jeremy Tatum

     Jeremy continues:  Today I saw several  (I didn’t count) Field Crescents at Eddy’s storage.  For those who don’t know where Eddy’s Storage is and who would like to see this butterfly, it is on the north side of Stelly’s Cross Road, a few tens of yards to the west of West Saanich Road.

    Jeremy continues:  I saw my first Mourning Cloak since 2016 at Quick’s Bottom today.  Quick’s Bottom is reached from Markham Street in Saanich.

    Kirsten Mills writes:  Here are some butterflies from Goldstream Heights this morning. I saw 6 Pale Tiger Swallowtails,  3 Western Tiger Swallowtails and 1 Anise Swallowtail. Also 1 Western Brown Elfin,  6 Cedar Hairstreaks and 5 Western Spring Azures.

Pale Tiger Swallowtail Papilio eurymedon (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Kirsten Mills

Cedar Hairstreak Mitoura rosneri (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Kirsten Mills

   Marie O’Shaughnessy also found a Cedar Hairstreak, also at Goldstream Heights.  Marie writes: I was with Kirsten and I believe she is sending you some pics to ID too of this butterfly. There were many up there today. Feasting on daisy nectar.

Cedar Hairstreak Mitoura rosneri (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Marie O’Shaughnessy

   Jeremy Tatum found this caterpillar on a Blackberry leaf at Quick’s Bottom today:

Common Emerald Hemithea aestivaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

2018 May 27 morning

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  The Astronomy Conference is now over, so Invert Alert is now back to normal!   Thanks for your patience last week.

   Scott Gilmore sends some interesting photographs from Lantzville, May 26:

   First, a beetle hitchhiking on a bee. The beetle is Antherophagus ochraceus. I am not sure about the bee but I am seeking an identification. The beetle develops/ lives in bee hives. I have seen the beetle on thimbleberry flowers… maybe waiting for a lift!

   There are also pictures of a fly –  a male and female Dolichopus. The male has large pads on the front feet.

   Last is a water strider, Aquarius remigis.

Antherophagus ochraceus (Col.: Cryptophagidae)

On Bombus sp. (Hym.: Apidae)

Scott Gilmore

Male Dolichopus sp. (Dip.: Dolichopodidae)  Scott Gilmore

Female Dolichopus sp. (Dip.: Dolichopodidae)  Scott Gilmore

Water Strider Aquarius remigis (Hem.:  Gerridae)  Scott Gilmore

2018 May 26

    The Cabbage White caterpillar shown on May 24 has now pupated.  Here is its chrysalis:

Cabbage White Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Rebecca Reader-Lee writes:  As I arrived home in the North Highlands I found this moth on the door:

Neoterpes trianguliferata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Rebecca Reader-Lee

   Kirsten Mills writes:  Jeff   I counted 22 Field Crescents at Eddy’s Storage on Stelly’s Cross Road this afternoon:

Field Crescent Phyciodes pratensis (Lep.: Nymphalidae)   Kirsten Mills

   Val George writes:  My May official butterfly count for Mount Douglas and the surrounding area was done on May 21 and today, May 26.  It produced the following:  Cabbage White 18, Western Spring Azure 8, Painted Lady 4, Red Admiral 2, Propertius Duskywing 2 (photo), Western Tiger Swallowtail 5, Pale Tiger Swallowtail 1, Anise Swallowtail 2.

Propertius Duskywing Erynnis propertius (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Val George

   Correction:  Jeremy Tatum writes:  On May 25 there was reference to the yellow colour on T2 of Annie Pang’s bee photograph.  I suggested that T2 referred to the second thoracic segment, which is the normal notation used to describe a moth caterpillar.  This was wrong.  Thanks to Jeremy Gatten who pointed out that, in the description of adult insects such as bees and wasps, the notation has a quite different meaning. The abdominal segments of these insects are made of two plates stapled together; the upper plate is a tergite, the lower plate is a sternite.  The T refers to the tergite, and the 2 refers to the second abdominal  segment.  I checked with Lincoln Best, and he confirms that it was this latter interpretation that he intended, which is apparently usual with adult insects. 

   How you pronounce tergite would occupy another small essay!

   When I was editor of a scientific journal I had a strict rule that all abbreviations must be defined on first mention – no exceptions, no ifs, ans or buts.  No author was allowed to assume that everyone understood what an abbreviation was intended to mean, or that a particular abbreviation was “standard” and need not be defined.   (And by the way, I meant “ans” and not “ands”!)

2018 May 25

   Kirsten Mills writes that at 2:30 yesterday afternoon she saw a Cedar Hairstreak at the end of Nicholson Road at the edge of Christmas Hill.  She saw and photographed a Painted Lady on Mount Tolmie at 7:00 p.m.

   Jochen Möhr writes that he had one each of Biston betularia, Nadata gibbosa, Tyria jacobaeae [for English speakers, writes Jeremy Tatum,  that’s Peppered Moth,  Rough Prominent, Cinnabar Moth] on his wall last night, as well as an unidentified pug:

Eupithecia sp.: (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

      Andrew Simon writes:  From time to time I come across this diurnal firefly, in the genus Ellychnia, invariably sitting on a frond of moss.  Here it is in a forested grove at the height of land in Bluffs Park, Galiano Island, seen yesterday on a frond of Hylocomium splendens by myself and Quirin Hohendorf, May 24.

Ellychnia sp. (Col.: Lampyridae)  Andrew Simon

   Annie Pang sends a picture of a bee, which Lincoln Best suggests is probably Bombus sitkensis.  Lincoln writes:  Note the complete yellow band on T2.

   …and in case any viewer is wondering what T2 means, writes Jeremy Tatum, try “Second thoracic segment”.  [Added later:  But apparently this is not what Lincoln meant!  See discussion on May 26.  Jeremy Tatum.]

Bombus sitkensis (Hym.: Apidae)   Annie Pang

   Jochen Möhr writes:  This fellow greeted me this morning in my bathroom:

Phidippus johnsoni (Ara.: Salticidae)   Jochen Möhr

Phidippus johnsoni (Ara.: Salticidae)   Jochen Möhr

   Judy Spearing sends a photograph of a Catocala caterpillar, most likely C. aholibah.  Like the one shown On May 18, this one was probably looking for some quiet spot to pupate.  That is when they are most likely to be found.  When they are still living on oak twigs, feeding on the leaves, they are to all intents and purposes invisible – one of the best disguised of all caterpillars.

Catocala aholibah (Lep.: Erebidae – Catocalinae)   Judy Spearing

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Here, from Melcroft Street, Saanich, is a Hyphantria cunia – the adult of the well-known “fall webworm” caterpillar.

Hyphantria cunia (Lep.:  Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Jeremy Tatum