2024 August 1

There was no Invert Alert on July 31.

   Loxostege cereralis  (Lep.: Crambidae)  Aziza Cooper

Jeremy Tatum writes:  The caterpillar shown on July 29 evening produced this chrysalis [Greek Chrysos = gold] last night.  It will produce a beautiful Red Admiral butterfly in two or three weeks.  It doesn’t matter how often I see this, I still marvel at the wonder of it.

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Jeremy continues:  I saw my first Woodland Skipper of the year today (August 1), on Lavender along Carey Road.  This is usually one of our most abundant butterflies, yet we have had few reports of them so far this year.  I saw another on the top of Mount Tolmie at 6:00 pm – the only butterfly there.

Skippers have traditionally been included among the butterflies, yet there are some who would.  distinguish between “skippers” and “true butterflies”.  The “true” butterflies were in the Superfamily Papilionidae, and the skippers in the Superfamily Hesperioidea. However, the 2023 Pohl and Nanz Annotated Taxonomic Checklist, which we are endeavouring to follow on this site, has no Hesperioidea, and it includes the skippers in the Papilionidae.  Hence you may refer to skippers as butterflies with a totally clear conscience.

Ian Cooper writes:  Here is a selection of pictures taken around dawn and early morning on July 31 2024 at *Colquitz River Park and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal near the 9 km marker.

# Prophysaon (probably foliolatum) (Pul.: Arionidae)  Ian Cooper

# Banana slug – Ariolimax columbianus (Pul.: Arionidae)   Ian Cooper

# Female Running crab spider – Philodromus dispar (Ara.: Philodromidae)   Ian Cooper

# Unidentified linyphiid spider (Ara.: Linyphiidae)   Ian Cooper

* Cybaeus signifer (Ara.: Cybaeidae)   Ian Cooper

* Common striped woodlouse – Philoscia muscorum (Isopoda: Oniscidae)   Ian Cooper

2024 July 30

    We have only one item for today’s posting – the hairstreak below.  This was photographed by Aziza Cooper on June 20 at the railroad tracks at Goldstream campground.   The opinion of several experienced butterfly people is that this is Johnson’s Hairstreak – a most interesting record and a new locality for the species.

Johnson’s Hairstreak Callophrys johnsoni  (Lep.: Lycaenidae)   Aziza Cooper
The few previous records of this species on this site were listed under the name Loranthomitoura johnsoni.

2024 July 29 evening

Aziza Cooper writes:   On Thursday, July 25, at McIntyre Reservoir I found these dragonflies and four Cabbage Whites.

Male Western Pondhawk Erythemis collocata  (Odo.:  Libellulidae)  Aziza Cooper

Female Western Pondhawk Erythemis collocata  (Odo.:  Libellulidae)  Aziza Cooper

Kirsten Mills saw a Shadow Darner Aeshna umbrosa at Beckwith Park yesterday, July 28.

Ian Cooper writes:  Here’s a selection of pictures taken by the 9 km marker on the #Galloping Goose Trail and *Colquitz River Park on July 25 & 27 2024.

* Ambigolimax valentianus (Pul.: Limacidae)   Ian Cooper

# Limax maximus (Pul.: Limacidae)   Ian Cooper

Ground beetle – Pterostichus sp. (Col.: Carabidae)   Ian Cooper

# Weevil.  Sciopithes obscurus(Col.: Curculionidae)
Ian Cooper
We thank Steven Roias and Scott Gilmore for the identification of this weevil, which was initially mislabelled on the site.

# Running crab spider Philodromus sp. (Ara.: Philodromidae)   Ian Cooper

* Mosquito – Culiseta incidens (Dip.: Culicidae)   Ian Cooper

Jeremy Tatum shows photographs of a caterpillar of a Red Admiral butterfly from nettles at Swan Lake.

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Jeremy Tatum

2024 July 29 morning

Marie O’Shaughnessy writes:
Dragonflies at Beaver Lake July 25- 27th 2024.
There were a few species at one of the small ponds Saturday.
Several female Blue Dashers were looking very worn. Blue Dashers seem to be the predominant dragonflies at most ponds and lakes that I have visited over the past week.

There were several Blue-eyed Darners hanging on twigs away from the pond yesterday, when the sun was hidden by cloud.

I have seen over the past 3 days,
  1 Black Saddlebags
4 Blue-eyed Darners
1 Cardinal Meadowhawk
1 Dot- tailed Whiteface
1  Western Pondhawk
14 Blue Dashers
3  Eight-spotted Skimmers
2 Paddletail Darners
1 Striped Meadowhawk

There were only two Cabbage White butterflies.

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor  (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Striped Meadowhawk  Sympetrum pallipes  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Female Western Pondhawk  Erythemis collocata  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Male Blue Dasher  Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libllulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Female Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Dot-tailed Whiteface Leucorrhinia  intacta (Odo.: Libellulidae) Marie O’Shaughnessy

   We thank Val George for the identification of the bug in Ian Cooper’s photograph in yesterday’s positng.  Val writes:  That one just happens to be one of the several species of stink bugs I get in my Oak Bay garden. It’s a nymph of the Conchuela Bug Chlorochroa ligata.  eFauna has a couple of images of that stage of development of the species and comments that it’s the 4^th or 5^th instar. I’ve attached a photo I took in my garden of a whole herd of them.

Conchuela Bug  Chlorochroa ligata  (Hem.: Pentatomidae)  Val George

2024 July 28

   Here are some invertebrate photographs taken by Ian Cooper along the E&N trail on the morning of July 27.

Bombus vosnesenskii (Hym.: Apidae)   Ian Cooper

Bombus occidentalis (Hym.: Apidae)   Ian Cooper
Thanks to Steven Roias for the identification of this bee.

Male Goldenrod Crab Spider – Misumena vatia (Ara.: Thomisidae)   Ian Cooper

Spittle Bug  Philaenus spumarius (Hem.: Cercopidae)   Ian Cooper

Nymph of a Conchuela Bug  Chlorochroa ligata   (Hem.: Pentatomidae)  Ian Cooper
Thanks to Val George for the identification of this bug.

Flower Fly – Myathropa florea (Dip.: Syrphidae)   Ian Cooper
Thanks to Dr Jeff Skevington for confirmation of the identification of this fly.

   Gordon Hart photographed these two butterflies in his Highlands garden, July 27.

Woodland Skipper  Ochlodes sylvanoides  Gordon Hart

Male Pine White  Neophasia menapia  (Lep.: Pieridae)  Gordon Hart

Val George writes:  This Emmelina monodactyla moth was in my Oak Bay garden this morning, July 28.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  The caterpillar is to be found in the flowers of Calystegia  (a.k.a. Convolvulus).

Emmelina monodactyla  (Lep.: Pterophoridae)  Val George