2018 May 16 morning

   We have had a few bees in the queue for a while.  Thanks to Claudia Copley and David Blades for identifying them for us.

Bombus melanopygus (Hym.: Apidae)   Annie Pang

Bombus sp. (perhaps mixtus) (Hym.: Apidae)  Annie Pang

Bombus fervidus (Hym.:  Apidae)   Nathan Fisk

Bombus flavifrons (Hym.: Apidae) Rosemary Jorna

   Mike Yip writes from Nanoose Bay: I haven’t done much butterflying but have a few photos to share. While photographing eagles on Denman Island last week I made a brief Editha (“Taylor’s”) Checkerspot stop and found one in the first minute, but didn’t see another for the next 15 minutes of looking. On the way home I stopped at Little Mountain hoping for the Oreas Comma seen and well photographed by Mark Wynja but had to settle for an obliging Pale Tiger Swallowtail instead. Yesterday I checked Cross Road and saw the usual Western Tailed Blues, Western Brown Elfins, Grey Hairstreaks, and the big surprise was an Arctic Skipper which is new for the area. Disappointing that there have been no signs of the Western Pine Elfins this year.  In my yard today I finally caught up with the small brown butterfly that had been tormenting me for the past four days. I saw it land about 15 feet up a cedar tree and was able to get a record shot with my bird lens – you guessed it – Cedar Hairstreak.

Editha (“Taylor’s”) Checkerspot Euphydryas editha taylori (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Mike Yip

Pale Tiger Swallowtail Papilio eurymedon (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Mike Yip

Grey Hairstreak Strymon melinus (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Mike Yip

Arctic Skipper (also known as Chequered Skipper) Carterocephalus palaemon (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Mike Yip

2018 May 15 evening

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  This afternoon I saw a “Ringlet”  Coenonympha tullia in the grassy fields just inland from Island View Beach.  Viewers of this site will know that I have hitherto preferred the British name, Large Heath, for this butterfly, on the bases that it is not closely related to the British species known as The Ringlet, and that it carries no “ringlet” markings on its wings.

  However, I may have to withdraw my objections.  I have discovered that when the butterfly was first recognized as a British species in 1795, it was given the name Manchester Ringlet, and a few years later it was renamed the Small Ringlet, to distinguish it from the much larger Ringlet.  However, it was soon realized that it was much more closely related to another British Coenonympha, and the two Coenonymphas became the Small Heath and the Large Heath.  Since the first English name the species had was the Manchester Ringlet, followed by the Small Ringlet, I can no longer insist that this butterfly is not a ringlet.

  There are still some problems.  Over its large Holarctic range, this butterfly has an enormous variation in its markings.  While some populations have several strong ringlet marks, our own population on Vancouver Island has no sign at all of any ringlet mark, which does make it a bit difficult to call it a ringlet!   And how many species are really involved?  Is it just one widely-distributed species, with several named subspecies or forms?  Or should it be split into several species?  This seems to be largely a matter of taste!  And what adjective should we place in front of our own population here?    ’Fraid I don’t know the answer to that.  In any case, it was nice to see one of them today.

  This evening on the top of Christmas Hill there were several Painted Ladies , a Red Admiral, a Propertius Duskywing, and two Grey Hairstreaks.  The latter were flying around a Garry Oak, often settling on it for minutes at a time, wings wide open, at about head height, enabling very close, prolonged views.

   Jeff Gaskin writes:  A Mourning Cloak flew by me on Wascana Street, the Gorge area, today May 15.

    We still have a queue of bumblebees waiting, while we struggle to identify them.  We’ll get them up eventually.  And I believe we have a bunch of goodies from Nanoose Bay awaiting our attention.  Will have to look at them tomorrow.

2018 May 15 morning

   Aziza Cooper writes:  At Mount Tolmie yesterday at 4:45pm there were 3 Pale Tiger Swallowtails, one Mourning Cloak, one Spring Azure and one Anise Swallowtail.

 Jeremy Tatum writes: 1½ hours later at the same location there were four Painted Ladies, a Red Admiral, a California Tortoiseshell and a Western Tiger Swallowtail.

  That’s eight species!

   I’m told there’s a Lazuli Bunting nearby, so Mount Tolmie is well worth a visit.

   Rosemary Jorna sends what she describes as “a very blurry picture of a very small butterfly in the grassy corridor down to the beach at Muir Creek.  It may show enough to suggest an ID.   There was another one further down.”

  Well, it’s small but not so blurry that we can’t identify it as a male  Mylitta Crescent!  This is of interest – we didn’t see any of these last year.  These are the third and fourth reported already this year, so it’s good to know that they are still around.  Likewise, we didn’t have any Mourning Cloaks last year;  Aziza’s is the fourth this year.

Male Myltta Crescent Phyciodes mylitta (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Rosemary Jorna

2018 May 14

   Rosemary Jorna sends a picture of a Western Blood-red Lady Beetle from Kemp Lake.

Western Blood-red Lady Beetle Cycloneda polita (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Jochen Möhr  sends a picture of a Silver-spotted Tiger Moth caterpillar from Metchosin.

Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Jochen Möhr

   Aziza Cooper writes: On May 13, I saw a Grey Hairstreak at Mount Tolmie summit. At 9am, I saw it on the lawn area between the summit rock and the reservoir. No photo. She sends photographs of two damselflies from Mcintyre Reservoir at 12:30 pm.  The first is a Pacific Forktail.  Rob Cannings tells us that the second is a Bluet, but it is a young individual with the colours hardly developed, so it is difficult to tell the exact species with confidence.

Pacific Forktail Ischnura cervula (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)  Aziza Cooper

Bluet Enallagma sp. (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)  Aziza Cooper

   Jeremy Tatum found the beetle below in Latoria Creek Park.  Scott Gilmore tells us that it is a “good one”, and is the Festive Click Beetle.

Festive Click Beetle Selatosomus festivus (Col.: Elateridae)  Jeremy Tatum

2018 May 13

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Today I saw a Moss’s Elfin in Gore Park, Central Saanich, and another one in Gowlland Tod Park.  At 6:00 p.m. there was some activity at the top of Mount Tolmie.  Nothing sitting on the top of the reservoir, but a Pale Tiger Swallowtail  and two Western Tiger Swallowtails flew overhead, an Anise Swallowtail was flying around the rocky summit, and a Painted Lady was flying around the Jeffery Pine.

  Had just written that, when the following came in from Val George – who reports more or less the same as me!  Val writes:  This afternoon, May 13, I saw my first Pale Swallowtail of the season on Mount Tolmie.  In fact, all three of our swallowtail species were there.  My total count was:  2 Pale Swallowtail, 2 Anise Swallowtail, 1 Western Tiger Swallowtail, 2 Painted Lady, 3 Cabbage White, several Western Spring Azure. 

   Jeremy continues:   Here is a caterpillar found on Indian Plum on Christmas Hill:

Aseptis binotata (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Aziza Cooper sends another photograph of a Hoary  (“Zephyr”) Comma from the San Juan Ridge.  Note the sharp division of the underside of the wings into a dark basal area and a lighter terminal area.  Note also the V-shaped (rather than ear-shaped) comma mark.

Hoary Comma Polygonia gracilis (Lep.: Nymphalidae)   Aziza Cooper