2019 June 27

Jeremy Tatum continues with his story of the extraordinary psychid moth Psyche casta (see June 26 morning).  Last night I took the female moth and her case indoors, and I kept her in an airtight plastic box.  This morning she had crawled completely out of the rear end of her case, so I took her and her case outside on to the balcony, and opened the box, to try and get a photograph of her.  Within seconds a male flew on to the balcony.  It was quite astonishing.  I did eventually manage to get some sort of a photograph of the female, and anything more unlike an adult moth is hard to imagine.

Female Psyche casta (Lep.: Psychidae)  Jeremy Tatum

 

 

   After so much excitement, here is a more conventional caterpillar – a young Painted Lady caterpillar from Royal Roads University, well protected in the spiny thistle that she eats.

Painted Lady Vanessa cardui (Lep.:  Nymphalidae)  Jeremy Tatum

 

 

   But I’m not the only one having an exciting time.  Ren, Kirsten, Mike and Jochen have all had exciting finds.   Ren Ferguson found a caterpillar of the Ceanothus Silk Moth wandering the forest floor on a small private island near Gabriola on June 16.

Ceanothus Silk Moth Hyalophora euryalus (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Ren Ferguson

 

   Kirsten Mills writes:  Jeff Gaskin and I were butterflying along Nanaimo River Road yesterday , June 25, and we saw a Sylvan Hairstreak:

 

Sylvan Hairstreak Satyrium sylvinus (Lep.: Lycaenidae)

Kirsten Mills

 

  Mike Yip writes from Nanoose: I checked a Dogbane patch in Whiskey Creek yesterday and found 9 Grey Hairstreaks, 2 Painted Ladies, 4 Pale Tiger Swallowtails, 2 Western Tiger Swallowtails, and 1 Cedar Hairstreak. I saw a new garden dragonfly today –  Pacific Spiketail.

Grey Hairstreak Strymon melinus (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Mike Yip

Painted Lady Vanessa cardui (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Mike Yip

Cedar Hairstreak Mitoura rosneri (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Mike Yip

Pacific Spiketail Cordulegaster dorsalis (Odo.: Cordulegastridae)  Mike Yip

 

   Jochen Möhr’s moths in Metchosin this morning:

 

In addition to the above, two Yellow Douglas Fir Borers (which have been here for about a week) and a Ten-lined June Beetle.

Enypia packardata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Homorthodes hanhami (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Perizoma curvilinea(Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Lacinipolia strigicollis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa maculata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)

Jochen Möhr

Campaea perlata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Iridopsis emasculatum (Lep.: Geometridae)

Pero mizon (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Polyphylla crinita (Col.: Scarabaeidae)  Jochen Möhr

Centrodera spurca (Col.: Cerambycidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Finally, two views of a Large Yellow Underwing moth, from Annie Pang:

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Annie Pang

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Annie Pang