2016 September 9

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  The small moth shown below, Udea profundalis, appeared on the wall of my Saanich apartment this morning.  Larval foodplant: Stinging Nettle.  It may not look much like Aziza’s unidentified crambid shown on September 5, but in recent years the taxonomists have expanded the Crambidae to include many moths (such as Udea) that were formerly in Pyralidae.

Udea profundalis (Lep.: Crambidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Jeff Gaskin writes:  On September  8, I may have seen the last of the Woodland Skippers in the Gorge community.  There was just one on the lavender in the Gorge Park community garden where before I was seeing up to a dozen.

  Devon Parker found the tiger swallowtail caterpillar shown below from Mount Sicker today.  Jeremy Tatum comments:  I haven’t yet found any reliable way of distinguishing between the caterpillars of our two local tiger swallowtails other than foodplant.  Since this one was on alder it is almost certainly a Pale Tiger Swalllowtail.  I am a little concerned  about the numerous tiny black spots on it.  I think this is a virus and it may be fatal. I shall give it some TLC and see what happens.

Probably Pale Tiger Swallowtail Papilio eurymedon (Lep.: Papilionidae)

Devon Parker

   Devon says he also saw a skipper on Mount Sicker today, and, a few days ago he saw a comma at Parry Bay.  While our default skippers and commas are Woodland Skipper and Satyr Comma, you never know, and, in these less-visited places, one can’t assume anything!   Devon and his Dad and I saw a Red Admiral still on the Mount Tolmie reservoir at 4:30 this afternoon.