INVERTEBRATE ALERT
This blog provides an informal forum for terrestrial invertebrate watchers to post recent sightings of interesting observations in the southern Vancouver Island region. Please send your sightings by email to Jeremy Tatum (tatumjb352@gmail.com). Be sure to include your name, phone number, the species name (common or scientific) of the invertebrate you saw, location, date, and number of individuals. If you have a photograph you are willing to share, please send it along. Click on the title above for an index of past sightings.The index is updated most days.

June 24 morning

2019 June 24 morning

 

   We start this morning with two dragonflies – a Common Whitetail from Gorge Park, June 22, and a Western Pondhawk from Beaver Lake, June 23.

Common Whitetail Plathemis lydia (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Annie Pang

Western Pondhawk Erythemis collocata (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

 

   Now we go to three moths, from three Families, not Noctuidae or Geometridae!   Nadata gibbosa from Metchosin,  Lophocampa argentata and  Malacosoma californicum from Saanich, all June 23.

Rough Prominent Nadata gibbosa (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Jochen Möhr

Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae) Jeremy Tatum

Male Malacosoma californicum (Lep.: Lasiocampidae)  Jeremy Tatum

 

   Lastly, a gigantic (three inches) insect found on Mount Cokely by Mike Yip, June 22.   You’d think an insect of this size would be easy to identify, but there are several similar species, and we even had to resort to looking at he details of the wing venation to be sure.  Mike correctly identified it as a species of fishfly¸ and Jeremy Tatum then starting looking into a couple of wrong genera.  We are grateful to Claudia Copley for putting us on to Dysmicohermes disjunctus.

 

 

Fishfly Dysmicohermes disjunctus (Meg.: Corydalidae) MikeYip

Fishfly Dysmicohermes disjunctus (Meg.: Corydalidae) MikeYip

 

Fishfly Dysmicohermes disjunctus (Meg.: Corydalidae) MikeYip