2019 May 27

 

      Jochen Möhr’s moths in Metchosin this morning:

 

Hydriomena marinata	1
Lacinipolia cuneata	1
Lacinipolia patalis	1
Lithophane petulca	1
Nadata gibbosa	1
Panthea virginarius	4
Perizoma curvilinea	2
Selenia alciphearia	2

 

   Jochen writes from his Metchosin property: At least three times a large swallowtail came by.  It might have been a Western Tiger Swallowtail (or several of them).  But none ever settled so I was not able to get a picture or to identify it clearly.  Many blues were playing around, up to four seen simultaneously, often pairs playing with each other, but never ever settling, so again no pics.   At least two Cedar Hairstreaks were there, much easier to approach, and I got many pics, of which I particularly like that of the one of that landed on the handle of my rake (attached).  There were also constantly several Cabbage Whites.  The most amazing and encouraging was an abundance of Adela septentrionella.  On the slope, there are at least a dozen bunches of daisies in full bloom or working up to it.  In each of the bunches there were some four to ten A. septentrionella.  I also took pictures of Broom Seed Beetles, a very tiny ladybeetle, and a dragonfly.

Cedar Hairstreak Mitoura rosneri (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Jochen Möhr

 

   Jeremy Tatum comments:  I have never noticed the yellow tarsi before.  I wonder if that is their natural colour, or whether it is pollen.

 

Male Cabbage White  Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae)  Jochen Möhr

Female Cabbage White  Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae)  Jochen Möhr

Broom Seed Beetle Bruchidius villosus (Col.: Chrysomelidae)  Jochen Möhr

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Jochen Möhr

                        [See Note on May 28]

 

   Val George writes:  Yesterday, May 26, there were two rather worn Western Brown Elfins at the summit of Mount Tolmie.  Other butterflies there:  2 Pale Tiger Swallowtails, 1 Western Tiger Swallowtail, 1 Anise Swallowtail, 2 Painted Ladies, 1 Western Spring Azure, 2 Cabbage Whites.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Here is a Herald Moth from Goldstream Park Nature House this morning.  The Herald is a moth that hibernates during the winter as an adult moth.  Thus the moth can be seen in the fall, and again early in the year, when it “heralds” in the spring.  May 27 seems rather a late spring date for this moth.  Larval foodplant:  willow.  Also nearby was a Perizoma curvilinea,  and a curious moth that I hadn’t seen before, identified by Libby Avis as  limacodid, Tortricidia testacea.  Libby says that they nearly always sit in this remarkable fashion.

 

Herald Moth Scoliopteryx libatrix (Erebidae – Scoliopteryginae)  Jeremy Tatum

Perizoma curvilinea (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

Tortricidia testacea (Lep.: Limacodidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Jeremy continues:  I showed a Lorquin’s Admiral caterpillar on May 15 and 17, and the chrysalis on May 18.  This afternoon the butterfly emerged.  It is shown below hanging from its empty chrysalis case.

The butterfly is now flying in Playfair Park, where it has a variety of nectar choices.

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

Jeremy Tatum

 

   When I was in Playfair Park I saw two twig-mimic geometrid caterpillars, of different species, sitting right in the same place on a Snowberry twig.  Then on the very next Snowberry bush I found another twig-mimic geometrid, of a third species. Here they are:

Upper:  Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum

Lower: Hemithea aestivaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum

Sicya crocearia (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

 

   Ken Vaughan writes:  Here’s a couple of geometrids from around my apartment building this
weekend.

 Xanthorhoe defensaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Ken Vaughan

Cyclophora dataria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Ken Vaughan