2024 May 9

Aziza Cooper writes: On May 8, at about 4 pm, I saw four species of butterflies at Mount Tolmie: two Painted Ladies, two Mourning Cloaks, one Western Spring Azure and one flyby Anise Swallowtail.  [Jeremy Tatum writes:  The two Painted Ladies and a Mourning Cloak were still there on May 9, 4:00 pm.]

Painted Lady Vanessa cardui (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Aziza Cooper

Mourning Cloak Nymphalis antiopa  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Aziza Cooper

   Here are a few photographs taken on May 5 to 9 by Ian Cooper at Colquitz River Park.

If anyone can help with the first two insects below, please let us know.  At present we label them as “probablys”.

Probably an aphid (Hem.: Aphididae)  Ian Cooper

Probably a crane fly  (Dip.: Tipulidae)  Ian Cooper

Harvestman Protolophus sp. (Opiliones:  Protolophidae)  Ian Cooper

Tetragnatha versicolor (Ara.: Tetragnathidae)  Ian Cooper

2024 May 8

Jeremy Tatum writes:  This afternoon, May 8, at 5:30 pm, there were two Painted Ladies flying around the Jeffrey Pine at the top of Mount Tolmie, and a Mourning Cloak basking on the reservoir.

Harvestmen are apparently fierce predators.  Recent photographs by Ian Cooper on the site have shown a harvestman apparently feeding on a earthworm, and another feeding on what may be spider.  The photograph below shows a harvestman feeding upon what may be an ant.  Dr Bragg describes this harvestman as a somewhat “overfed” Protolophus.

Harvestman (Protolophus sp.) feeding on what may be an ant.  Ian Cooper

The photograph below shows a harvestman feeding upon what looks like another harvestman!

Harvestman apparently feeding upon another harvestman.    Ian Cooper

Ian photographed this colourful beetle in View Royal – confirmed by Scott Gilmore to be Chrysophana placida.

Chrysophana placida  (Col.: Buprestidae)   Ian Cooper

A colourful beetle is followed by a colourful snail:

Cepaea nemoralis  (Pul.: Helicidae)  Ian Cooper

Cepaea nemoralis  (Pul.: Helicidae)  Ian Cooper

Deroceras reticulatum (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)   Ian Cooper

Clubiona sp. (Ara.: Clubionidae)  Ian Cooper

Woodlouse Hunter Spider – Dysdera crocata  (Ara.: Dysderidae)   Ian Cooper

2024 May 7

Hello hello! It’s almost time for the insect bioblitz in the Garry Oak Meadows at Uplands Park & Cattle Point.

I have some details to share with you.

1. FOOD & DRINKS! We will have refreshments for participants on Saturday between 12-2 at the picnic area in the grassy field on Beach Drive, across from the Uplands entrance. So look for insects before or after & join us for a break and social time.
2. Parking. Park at Cattle Point in the upper or lower lot, or along Beach Drive on either side of the road. DO NOT put one wheel on the curb to try to save space in the road. You may think you are being considerate of drivers, but you may get a ticket.
3. Tread Lightly. It is the height of the bloom of camas and other wildflowers; others may be just starting to emerge from the ground. Uplands Park is home to endangered species. Please be careful where you step and try to keep to the trails and/or walk on the rocks as much as possible.
4. Night access. We have permission from Oak Bay Parks to be at the park at night. So feel free to set up black lights.
5. YOU’RE INVITED! As part of World Migratory Bird Day’s theme: Protect Insects, Protect Birds, we welcome you to join us on a free guided bird walk led by Geoffrey and David Newell on Sunday at 4 pm, with a focus on insectivores. Meet at the park entrance at Dorset Rd and Lincoln St. Parking available there and along Dorset.
6. PRIZES. We will have prizes for the most insect species observed in iNaturalist, the most insects identified in iNat, and a Judge’s choice award for best photo and/or coolest observation.
7. SHARE! Bring a friend, tell a friend, make a friend. Feel free to use this Journal to make plans and let others know when you will be heading to the park. We hope this will be a place where we can come together as a community to share and learn from one another.
8. Questions? Feel free to be in touch with me (Stephanie) through iNaturalist or by email: srweinstein2@gmail.com

Posted on May 07, 2024 11:21 PM by srweinstein | 0 comments | Leave a comment

4 day countdown to insect bioblitz

Hello iNatters, Entomophiles & Garry Oak ecosystems-Kwetlal food system afficionados,

Friends of Uplands Park is happy to host another insect bioblitz at Uplands Park & Cattle Point. The Garry oak meadows are in their wildflower glory, beaconing all the pollinators and other insect visitors. And if that weren’t enough of a reason – it is also World Migratory Bird Day with this year’s theme being “Protect Insects, Protect Birds”: https://www.migratorybirdday.org/conservation-theme/ highlighting the critical importance of insects to birds. (And to everything and everyone, really.) So come celebrate flowers & birds as well as the amazing insect diversity with this insect bioblitz that will help us to understand insect diversity through the seasons in the Garry Oak ecosystems. We will have prizes! And a community hub/food table reception & more! Details to follow soon.

Hope to see you soon!

Stephanie
srweinstein2@gmail.com

Note from Jeremy Tatum.  All who are interested in insects are invited to take part in this Insect Bioblitz.   Remember, however, that identifications are expected to be research level reliability, so please don’t submit long lists of unidentified insects or identifications you are not sure of.  If you have a good photograph (high resolution, showing fine details) of insects you are unsure of, I can try to identify it or find someone who can, though I may not have time to deal with large numbers of such photographs.

Jeremy Tatum sends a photograph of a young (third instar?) caterpillar of a snout moth, Hypena californica, from nettle near Blenkinsop Lake.

Hypena  californica  (Lep.: Erebidae – Hypeninae)  Jeremy Tatum

      Following are a varied collection of invertebrates photographed by Ian Cooper in the last couple of nights.

Male Earwig  Forficula auricularia (Derm.: Forficulidae)   Ian Cooper

The female earwig has straight cerci.

The next insect is obviously an earwig, and presumably a young F. auricularia.  But, writes Jeremy Tatum, I am not sufficiently familiar with earwigs to be certain that it is not some other species.

Earwig (Derm.: Forficulidae)   Ian Cooper

Probably female  Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria  (Dip.: Scathophagidae)  Ian Cooper

Dr Philip Bragg identified the harvestmen below for us.

Protolophus sp. (Opiliones:  Protolophidae)   Ian Cooper

Left:   Oniscus asellus (Isopoda: Oniscidae)
Centre:  Lauria cylindracea– (Pul.: Lauriidae)
Right:  probably Protolophus niger (Opiliones:  Protolophidae)
Behind the camera:  Ian Cooper

Limax maximus   (Pul.: Limacidae)  Ian Cooper

Of the slug below,  Robert Forsyth writes:  It’s Prophysaon.  I think it is a pale form of P. foliolatum.

Prophysaon (probably foliolatum) (Pul.: Arionidae)  Ian Cooper

Armidillidium vulgare  (Isopoda: Armadillidiidae)  Ian Cooper

Dyslobus decoratus  (Col.: Curculionidae)  Ian Cooper

Non-biting midge (Dip.: Chironomidae)  Ian Cooper

2024 May 6

Ian Cooper sends a photograph of a crane fly at Colquitz River Park.  Ian writes:  I came across this fascinating scene of a crane fly with its mouth parts directly on a leaf’s damp surface, apparently seeking to draw moisture from it.

Crane fly  (Dip.: Tipulidae)  Ian Cooper

Earthworms are apparently preyed upon not only by Robins.  Yesterday we showed one of Ian’s pictures of an earthworm apparently being dragged out of its burrow by a beetle.  Today we show Ian’s pictures of one apparently being eaten alive at one end by a harvestman.   Dr Philip Bragg writes:  The harvestmen are Protolophus species. Only P. niger has been named in BC. This does not look like P. niger, which is a very dark-looking harvestman. The genus Protolophus is in need of revision. Harvestmen are known to attack earthworms. The digestive enzymes from the harvestman are really beginning to digest the worm. I do not know how the harvestman subdued the worm since they do not possess poison glands.  Please congratulate Ian for these excellent clear, detailed photos.

Harvestman Protolophus sp. (Opiliones: Protolophidae)  with earthworm.   Ian Cooper

Harvestman Protolophus sp. (Opiliones: Protolophidae)  Ian Cooper

2024 May 5

  Gordon Hart sends photographs of a Painted Lady butterfly and a Bumble Bee from Mount Tolmie, May 4.  We thank Steven Roias for identifying the bumble bee as a queen Bombus fervidus californicus.

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

Queen Bombus fervidus californicus  (Hym.: Apidae)  Gordon Hart

Ian Cooper sends a photograph of a chironomid midge carrying two water mite larvae.  Dr Heather Proctor writes:  Indeed, a chironomid, sporting a couple of parasitic water mite larvae (Prostigmata: Hydrachnidiae). I can’t identify them any more finely than that, as members of a few water mite superfamilies have chironomids as hosts.

Non-biting midge (Dip.: Chironomidae) with
parasitic water mite larvae (Prostigmata: Hydrachnidiae)
Ian Cooper

Ian also sends photographs of two beetles and a springtail.  We thank Scott Gilmore for confirming Ian’s correct tentative identification of the beetles.   Like the midge above, one of the beetles carries two mites.  Dr Proctor says Order Mesostigmata.  The beetle is a snail-eating beetle, although on this occasion it is having earthworm for supper.

Scaphinotus angusticollis (Col.: Carabidae)  Ian Cooper

Left: Hairy Spider Weevil Barypeithes pellucidus (Col.: Curculionidae)
Right:  Globose springtail, probably Ptenothrix sp. (Coll.: Dicyrtomidae)
Ian Cooper

Two more from Ian – a spider and a slug.  First,  a folding-door spider at its burrow entrance – Antrodiaetus pacificus (Mygalomorphae)

Antrodiaetus pacificus (Ara. – Myg:   Antrodiaetidae)

Arion subfuscus (Pul.: Arionidae)   Ian Cooper