2016 October 4

   Bruce Whittington sends a photograph of a fly from Parksville. Thanks to Rob Cannings for confirming its identification as a soldier fly.   With this clue, Bruce managed to track it down to probable species.  Although soldier flies comprise a huge family, Stratiomyidae, Bruce’s fly is surely in the genus Sargus, and almost certainly Sargus decorus.

Soldier fly Sargus decorus (Dip.:  Stratiomyidae)   Bruce Whittington

   Thanks also to Rob for correcting my (Jeremy Tatum) identification of Mike Yip’s October 3 dragonfly – and my apologies, Mike!   The correct label is now given in the October 3 posting.

  The caterpillar season isn’t quite over.  Libby Avis sends photographs of four noctuid caterpillars, none of which I (Jeremy Tatum) have been able to identify.  The first (which is just about to undergo ecdysis into its final instar) was on fir at Little Qualicum fish hatchery, September 28.  The second was rolled in a poplar leaf at Sproat Lake, September 24.  The third was on nettle at Little Qualicum fish hatchery, September 27.  The fourth was on Salmonberry at Cameron Lake, September 27.

 Caterpillar 1 (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

Caterpillar 2 (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

Caterpillar 3 (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

 Caterpillar 4 (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

2016 October 3

   Liam Singh sends a photograph of a female Oak Treehopper.

Oak Treehopper Platycotis vittatus (Hem.: Membracidae)  Liam Singh

     Libby Avis  sends some recent moth photographs from Port Alberni:  Eupsilia tristigmata September 24;   Fishia discors September 26;  Pleromelloida cinerea September 27.

Fishea discors (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

Pleromelloida cinerea  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

Jeremy Tatum writes:  Although the butterfly season is almost at a close, there were still several Cabbage Whites to be seen in the Martindale-Island View area yesterday.

He also writes:  The pupa below looks much like many other pupae.  Can one tell what it is?  Well, the reddish rings between the abdominal segments mark it as a member of the Thyatirinae.

 Habrosyne scripta  (Lep.: Drepanidae – Thyatirinae)   Jeremy Tatum

   Mike Yip photographed a Striped Meadowhawk at Stamp River last week.   Thanks to Rob Cannings for putting us right on this one.  I (Jeremy Tatum) had originally mis-labelled it.

 Striped Meadowhawk Sympetrum pallipes (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Mike Yip

2016 October 1

   Monthly Butterfly Walk.  Weather permitting, the last Monthly Butterfly Walk of the year will take place tomorrow, Sunday October 2.  We meet at the top of Mount Tolmie, on the concrete reservoir at 1:00 pm.  All are very welcome.  There is a “special event” taking place in the area that day, so some of the roads near Mount Tolmie and UVic might be closed, so it may be well to allow for delays and aim to get to Mount Tolmie by, say, ten to one.

  There should still be some Cabbage Whites around, and there is always the possibility of something else.  But because we won’t expect hordes of butterflies, it is suggested that we might go to Panama Flats with the aim of finding as many “woolly bear” caterpillars as we can find.  These are furry caterpillars of moths of the subfamily Arctiinae (which means “bears”).  There are several species, though the one we are likely to find quite commonly at Panama Flats is the Banded Woolly Bear.  We should find some even if it is cool and cloudy and there are no butterflies – but if it is actually raining, we may elect to curl up at home with a good book instead.

  In the meantime, here is a moth that turned up at my Saanich apartment this morning:

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Annie Pang sends more pictures of the tiny mildew-eating Twenty-spotted Ladybird from Gorge Park.

Twenty-spotted Ladybird Psyllobora vigintimaculata (Col.: Coccinellidae)

Annie Pang

 Twenty-spotted Ladybird Psyllobora vigintimaculata (Col.: Coccinellidae)

Annie Pang

   Liam Singh found the chrysalis below at Pedder Bay while he was owl-banding at night.  It is a tiger swallowtail butterfly.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  I haven’t yet learned of any reliable way of distinguishing between the caterpillars or chrysalides of the Western and Pale Tiger Swallowtails.   However, if the tree trunk is that of a willow, it is probably a Western Tiger Swallowtail, whereas if it is alder it is probably a Pale Tiger Swallowtail.

 Tiger swallowtail Papilio sp. (Lep.: Papilionidae)   Liam Singh

2016 September 28

Jeremy Tatum shows a caterpillar of Lophocampa maculata from Aylard Farm, September 28.  They are usually black at each end and brown in the middle, but this one is slightly different – black at just the head end.

Lophocampa maculata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)   Jeremy Tatum

   Rosemary Jorna went searching for the tiny snail Vertigo on the bark of maple trees at Kemp Lake today.  She writes:  I found 9,  6 on one tree, 3 on the one next to it . Today’s bright sunshine made them possible to see (these are 3mm or less)  in the rough bark. An hour later when I tried to show them off the light had changed , we could only spot 3.

Threaded Vertigo snail Nearctula sp. (Pul.: Vertiginidae)   Rosemary Jorna

   Rosemary writes:  I saw this Western Conifer Seed Bug at  Kemp Lake Road, September 28 2016 at my feet when I sat down for dinner. There was a slight delay while it got its photo taken and escorted outside.

Western Conifer Seed Bug Leptoglossus occidentalis (Hem.: Coreidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Mike McGrenere writes:  Barb and I were at McIntyre reservoir yesterday and had this Yellow Woolly Bear cross a farm road.

Yellow Woolly Bear Spilosoma virginica (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)
Mike McGrenere

2016 September 26

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Gordon Hart’s Cerisy’s Eyed Hawk Moth caterpillar (see September 16 posting) has pupated.  The pupa is shown below, next to a quarter.

Cerisy’s Eyed Hawk Moth Smerinthus cerisyi (Lep.: Sphingidae)

   Gordon Hart writes: On Sunday, September 25, at the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Lagoon Road, we looked at a patch of Tansy growing along the roadside. Its yellow flowers were covered by dozens of ladybirds at various levels of maturity. I tried to get pictures showing each of the stages of development, but it was difficult. Perhaps one or more of the attached might give some idea of what we saw. Besides the ladybirds, there was a nice green Cuckoo Wasp, and two species of syrphid fly, and probably other creatures.

Harmonia axyridis adult and larva (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Gordon Hart

Bottom left: Pupa of Harmonia axyridis (Col.: Coccinellidae)

Right:  Adult Adalia bipunctata (Col.: Coccinellidae)

Gordon Hart

Aziza Cooper sends a photograph of a Blue-eyed Darner from Swan Lake, September 26.

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Aziza Cooper