2024 November 30

No Invertebrate Alert was issued on November 29.

   Dr Robb Bennett writes:  One of my sons found several of these masses of cocooned caterpillars in his very dry and covered firewood supply. Very tough silk and they had virtually glued pieces of wood together.

Jeremy Tatum writes:  There must be between 100 and 200 of these cocoons. As Robb says, the cocoons are made of very tough silk, and each one examined contains a caterpillar, not yet a pupa.   We don’t know what they are, but with luck eventually one or two moths will emerge and we may possibly then be able to identify them.

Mass of from 100 to 200 unidentified moth cocoons.   Robb Bennett

Caterpillars from the above cocoons    Robb Bennett

Here are more pictures taken during Ian Cooper’s  November  26 photo shoot in *Colquitz River Park in Saanich and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.

*Large Yellow Underwing Moth  Noctua pronuba  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Ian Cooper

#Globular Springtail Ptenothrix sp. (Coll.: Dicyrtomidae)  Ian Cooper

*Grey Field Slug  Deroceras reticulatum (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)  Ian Cooper

#Longneck Field Slug  Deroceras invadens – (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)   Ian Cooper