2023 May 19 evening

Ken Vaughan sends a picture of an Anise Swallowtail from Mount Tolmie this morning.

Anise Swallowtail Papilio zelicaon  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Ken Vaughan

   Kirsten Mills writes:  Today, May 19, Jeff Gaskin and I were on Stamps Road in Cowichan. Is this an Arctic Skipper? It would be a lifer for both of us.  Answer:  Yes!!! Carterocephalus palaemon! A great find!

 

   Incidentally, writes Jeremy Tatum, in the UK this butterfly has been known for a long time as the Chequered Skipper, which is one of several reasons that I prefer not to use that name for our Pyrgus ruralis.

Arctic Skipper Carterocephalus palaemon  (Lep.: Hesperiidae)

  Kirsten Mills

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Today I saw a Mourning Cloak and a Pale Tiger Swallowtail along Lochside Drive north of Blenkinsop Lake.  At 5:15 pm I was at the top of Christmas Hill, where I saw two Pale Tiger Swallowtails, but no hill-topping nymphalids.   By way of compensation I found this caterpillar with a 12-syllable name on a Garry Oak:

Hydriomena nubilofasciata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

Hydriomena nubilofasciata (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum