2017 September 15

   Jeremy Tatum had two moths outside his Saanich apartment this morning:

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum

Squarespot Rustic Xestia xanthographa (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum

The photographs are deceiving – pronuba is about twice the size of xanthographa!

From Gordon Hart

With our last 2017 butterfly count starting this weekend, I thought I would send a summary of the August count. In 2016 a dry summer resulted in very few butterflies flying for our count: 9 species and 709 individuals. In August 2017, we had much higher numbers: 14 species and 1328 individuals counted. Both Cabbage Whites and Woodland Skippers had hundreds more counted, with every species having more than 2016.

-Gordon 

From Gordon Hart

Hello Butterfly Counters!

The last butterfly count period for 2017 will begin Saturday, September 16 running until Sunday September 24. Please use the submission form on the VNHS website: www.vicnhs.bc.ca/?p=33. 

You can submit a count anytime over this period, and you can do more than one count, just use a separate form for each count. In the case of repeat counts, or more than one person counting an area, I will take the highest count for each species. The count area is the same as the Victoria Christmas Bird Count circle. For butterfly identification there are numerous internet sites, but most or all Victoria species are listed on E-Fauna. If you select by photographer, all the photos under James Miskelly’s name are of Victoria species. Here is the link: http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/efauna/photoGallery/Gallery.aspx?gr=showall&pid=175&photographer=miskelly,%20james&specrep=0

If you need suggestions for a place to count, please email me.  If you want to be removed from this list, please let me know. If you know someone who wants to be on the list, please ask them to email me.

Last year was very dry, with few butterflies – all Cabbage Whites and Woodland Skippers. I think this year we should have a bit more variety!

Thanks for participating in the count!

Gordon Hart,

Butterfly count coordinator ,

Victoria Natural History Society 

2017 September 14

   Barbara McGrenere reports finding a caterpillar (shown below) of a Rough Prominent moth at McMinn Park (Cordova Bay) and seeing a Painted Lady butterfly at Outerbridge Park (Royal Oak Drive) this morning.

Rough Prominent Nadata gibbosa (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Jeremy Tatum

2017 September 13

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Lots of Neoalcis californiaria keep coming to my back door in Saanich.

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

      He also reports a Red Admiral just outside the entrance to the Mount Tolmie reservoir at 4:00 p m.

In yesterday’s (September 12) posting I recounted how I had seen a huge Catocala  very close by in flight.  It turns out that on the very same day Gordon Hart had exactly the same experience in his Highlands yard.  As with me, shortly after flying around, the moth settled in full view, the one difference being that Gordon had his camera with him!  These “cats” are difficult to distinguish, even if they show their colourful hindwings, and I think we’ll have to leave this as Catocala sp.

Catocala sp.   (Lep.: Erebidae – Erebinae – Catocalini)  Gordon Hart

   Also seen by Gordon was a Painted Lady, which, very appropriately, settled on a butterfly-shaped sundial for its photo opportunity.

Painted Lady Vanessa cardui (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Gordon Hart

Jeremy Tatum writes:  Here is the pupa formed by the caterpillar of the White-lined Hawk Moth shown on September 3 and 4.

White-lined Hawk Moth Hyles lineata (Lep.: Sphingidae)  Jeremy Tatum

2017 September 12

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  My pessimism expressed in the September 11 posting about being able to get an identification of the moth photographed by Ron Flower at McIntyre reservoir yesterday was ill-founded.  Libby Avis had no difficulty in identifying it as Loxostege cereralis – named for Ceres, goddess of agriculture.  Here is Ron’s photograph:

Loxostege cereralis (Lep.: Crambidae – Pyraustinae)  Ron Flower

   The September 10 posting had a report of masses of caterpillars of the White-speck Moth (Armyworm) invading a school in Courtenay.  Now today’s (September 12) Times-Colonist has an article (page B1) headed “Armyworm infestation decimates BC crops”, including such phrases as “seething mass” and “army of voracious worms”, “a larvae” and so on.  I haven’t seen any here in Victoria recently.  Perhaps viewers would keep a lookout for them.  I see many buildings were also decimated by Hurricane Irma.  I always thought that “to decimate” meant “to reduce by ten percent” – but I suppose our language evolves and becomes less comprehensible as it does so.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I visited McIntyre reservoir again today.   I saw a Painted Lady, a Purplish Copper, and lots of Cabbage Whites – but no sulphurs.  That does not mean that they have all necessarily gone, and it would still be worth a few visits there.  I had some excitement at the Lochside trail pig farm.  A huge Catocala moth flew right by my head, flashing brilliant red hindwings.  You usually find these moths settled on a wall with their hindwings hidden.  To see the moth in flight was quite exciting.  Later it settled on a branch.  I couldn’t be sure of the species, but, although there were no nearby oaks, I believe it was most likely C. aholibah.  Then, a little bit further south on Lochside, I found several nests of the Fall Webworm, and I found an isolated caterpillar that had left its nest.  It can be surprising to discover that the Fall Webworm is actually a woolly bear, every bit as woolly, soft, long-haired and cuddly as the other woolly nears in our area.

Fall Webworm Hyphantria cunea (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Jeremy Tatum

Fall Webworm Hyphantria cunea (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)

 Jeremy Tatum

2017 September 11

   Jeremy Tatum sends photographs of some caterpillars.  The first from Ocean Spray at Mount Douglas.  The second from Rubus sp. in East Sooke Park, now feeding on willow.

Unicorn Prominent Schizura unicornis (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Peppered Moth Biston betularia (Lep.: Geometridae)

Jeremy Tatum

   The Zale caterpillar that has been shown on August 28 and 30, and September 2 and 7 is now pupating.  We have narrowed it down to Z. lunata or Z. minerea, probably the former.  Its ventral side is interesting:

Zale sp. (Lep.: Erebidae – Erebinae)  Jeremy Tatum

I went to McIntyre reservoir today.  There were still hundreds of Cabbage Whites in flight.  I also saw one (or more?) pristine Orange Sulphur and one (or more?) pristine Painted Lady.  The sulphur was a full, rich orange.  I didn’t see any of the paler sulphurs that we saw during the VNHS September Butterfly Walk.  It would be nice to get some good photographs of these.  Although we assumed that they were female Orange Sulphurs, I am not 100 per cent certain, and I am toying with the possibility that they may have been Clouded Sulphurs – a different species.  In any case today I had a look at the Brussels Sprouts plants to see if I could spot any caterpillars.  I found one caterpillar each of Cabbage Looper and Cabbage White Butterfly.  The adult Cabbage Looper is the Ni Moth.  The mark on the upperside of the forewing is supposed to resemble the Greek letter nu (n);  “Ni” is the Latinized form of Greek “nu”.   The Ni Moth is a plusiine (i.e. belongs to the Subfamily Plusiinae of the Family Noctuidae).  Most of the plusiine caterpillars don’t have the usual complement of abdominal prolegs (count them), and they walk in a semi-looper fashion.

Ni Moth Trichoplusia ni (Lep.: Noctuidae – Plusiinae)  Jeremy Tatum

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

Message just received from Ron Flower, who, too, visited McIntyre reservoir today.  He writes:  Around noon at the reservoir we saw 2 Woodland Skippers, 6 Painted Ladies, 4 Orange Sulphurs, 2 Purplish Coppers, dozens of Cabbage Whites, and a new moth to us. There could have very well been more of each for they seemed to be everywhere.  [Jeremy Tatum writes:  I’m not very optimistic, but we’ll try and identify the moth.]

Painted Lady Vanessa cardui (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Ron Flower

 Orange Sulphur Colias eurytheme (Lep.: Pieridae)  Ron Flower

Male Purplish Copper  Lycaena helloides (Lep.:  Lycaenidae)  Ron Flower

Jeff Gaskin writes:  Yesterday, Sept. 10, there was a Painted Lady on a Buddleia bush along Gorge Road near Harriet Street.  Today there were no fewer than 6 Pine Whites in East Sooke Park between Aylard Farm and Beechey Head.

Gerry and Wendy Ansell write:  Of interest this afternoon (Monday, September 11) was 1 Grey Hairstreak at Panama Flats.   There were also several Woodland Skippers.