2018 April 22

 

   Jeff Gaskin and Kirsten Mills saw a California Tortoiseshell at 4:00 pm on the Mount Tolmie reservoir today, as well as three Cabbage Whites elsewhere on the hill.  The tortoiseshell was presumably the same individual that Val George photographed on April 19.  However, Val photographed another California Tortoiseshell today on the summit of Mount Douglas. 

 

California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Val George

 

 

    Aziza Cooper puts me a little on the spot!  She writes that she saw some commas on the tracks near the Goldstream campground, and she wants to know what species they are.  Well may you ask, Aziza, and you are just as good (or bad) at these things as I am!

Well, I (Jeremy Tatum) shall put a label under the photographs, and if anyone disagrees with them (or even if you agree), please do let us know!  Aziza also saw a Sara Orangetip and a Cabbage White there.

 

Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Aziza Cooper

 

Male Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Aziza Cooper

 

Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Aziza Cooper

 

Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Aziza Cooper

 

 

   Jeremy Tatum saw only his second butterfly of the year today – a Western Spring Azure at Blinkhorn Lake.  He comments that after a dull winter, he had forgotten how very beautiful these butterflies are.

 

 

   On April 20, Nathan Fisk found a bee holding fast to a Flower of Deltoid Balsamroot.  Thank you Sean McCann for identifying the bee as a kleptoparasitic bee of the genus Nomada.

 

Nomada sp. (Hym.: Apidae)  Nathan Fisk