2023 June 3 morning

    Jeremy Tatum writes: Seven o’clock in the morning, and already twelve insects waiting in my email box!  Three are awaiting identification, but here are nine of them.

One of them is a Red Admiral, which reminds me that, until I did yesterday’s cryptic crossword in the Times-Colonist, I didn’t realize that Real Madrid (famous Spanish football (soccer) team) is an anagram of Red Admiral.

First, a small moth that entered my bedroom last night:

Hedya nubiferana  (Lep.: Tortricidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Now some dragonflies from Swan Lake:

Blue Dasher  Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Western Pondhawk Erythemis collocata (Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Four-spotted Skimmer
Libellula quadrimaculata (Odo.:Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

And some butterflies from Mount Tolmie:

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

West Coast Lady Nymphalis annabella (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Steven Roias writes of the success he has had in growing a native plant garden. He writes of the positive response of invertebrates, in general, to the transformation of our yard from a typical lawn and cultivated shrub greenscape, to a near 100% native floral display. This transformation is an ever-evolving one which started in 2017, and since adopting this new environment, we have hosted butterfly larvae, nesting bumble bees, and an array of other native arthropods each year.   He found six Lorquin’s Admiral caterpillars in his garden, five of them on Ocean Spray, and one on Hardhack.

Lorquin’s Admiral Limenitis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Steven Roias

Lastly, an ant dragging the body of a large wasp.

Ant + Polistes dominula (Hym.: Vespidae) Aziza Cooper