2020 September 27

   Some slugs and a beetle from the Galloping Goose Trail, photographed by Ian Cooper.  Congratulations to Ian for gallantly rescuing some of the slugs by transferring them from the trail (where they were in danger of being  squashed) to the adjacent vegetation.  I often do that myself! (Jeremy Tatum).  Being squashed is not the only danger they face.  The beetle shown has a taste for slugs and snails.

Arion rufus (Pul.: Arionidae)  Ian Cooper

Arion rufus (Pul.: Arionidae)  Ian Cooper

Banana Slug Ariolimax columbianus (Pul.: Arionidae)  Ian Cooper

Snail-eating beetle Scaphinotus angusticollis (Col.: Carabidae)  Ian Cooper

   Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

1 Agriphila (possibly straminella)

4 Dryotype opina

1 Dysstroma citrata

8 Ennomos magnaria    

3 Nepytia phantasmaria 

1 Noctua pronuba

2 Pleromelloida cinerea

1 Plemyria georgii

Dryotype opina (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Agriphila (probably straminella or plumbifimbriellus) (Lep.: Crambidae)  Jochen Möhr

2020 September 26

  Three rather different invertebrates by Ian Cooper from the Galloping Goose Trail, September 24;

Honey Bee Apis mellifera (Hym.: Apidae)  Ian Cooper

Nepytia phantasmaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Ian Cooper

Banana Slug Ariolimax columbianus (Pul.: Arionidae) Ian Cooper

    And a moth by Jochen Möhr from Metchosin, September 25:

Agrochola purpurea (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

2020 September 25

   Jeff Gaskin writes:  Yesterday, September 24, I found a rather late Woodland Skipper in the flower gardens in Beacon Hill Park.  It looked very bedraggled and wet no doubt due to the rainy weather  we’ve been getting.  There were no other butterflies in the park.  Jeremy Tatum adds:  I saw a Cabbage White flying over Richmond Road yesterday shortly after some very heavy rain.

Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

1 Eupithecia sp.

5 Ennomos magnaria 

3 Dryotype opina

1 Lithomoia germana 

2 Noctua pronuba

2 Plemyria georgii

2 Pleromelloida cinerea 

1 Sunira decipiens

Dryotype opina (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Sunira decipiens (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

   Ian Cooper photographed the weevil below along the Galloping Goose Trail on September 20.  Thanks to Scott Gilmore for identifying it as a Clover Weevil  Sitona hispidulus.

Clover Weevil Sitona hispidulus (Col.: Curculionidae)  Ian Cooper

Clover Weevil Sitona hispidulus (Col.: Curculionidae)  Ian Cooper

2020 September 24

    Ian Cooper photographed this crab spider catching an unfortunate syrphid fly (identified by Dr Jeff Skevington as probably Syrphus sp.) near the Switch Bridge on the Galloping Goose trail, September 20.

A second crab spider (in the third photograph) looks on from a nearby flower.

Misumena vatia (Ara.: Thomisidae) and Syrphus sp. (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Ian Cooper

Misumena vatia (Ara.: Thomisidae) and Syrphus sp. (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Ian Cooper

Misumena vatia (Ara.: Thomisidae) Ian Cooper

    Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin yesterday morning (September 23):

6 Ennomos magnaria 

2 Euxoa difformis

1 Fishia illocata

1 Nepytia phantasmaria

1 Tetracis jubararia 

Fishea illocata (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Fishea illocata (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Nepytia phantasmaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Euxoa difformis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Tetracis jubararia (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

    Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning (September 24):

1 Agonopterix nervosa

1 Drepanulatrix sp. 

7 Ennomos magnaria (alive) plus the remains of one juncoed one

1 Lithomoia germana

1 Noctua pronuba 

1 Pleromelloida cinerea

1 Sunira decipiens

1 Tetracis jubararia (same one as yesterday)

Agonopteryx nervosa (Lep.: Depressariidae)  Jochen Möhr

Sunira decipiens (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Lithomoia germana (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

2020 September 23

   Ian Cooper videoed this potter wasp on September 20.   Here is a still frame.  Thanks to Claudia Copley for the identification:

Eumenes sp. (Hym.: Vespidae)  Ian Cooper

   Aziza Cooper sends a photograph of a dragonfly at Aylard Farm, East Sooke Park, September 22, identified by Dr Rob Cannings as a Paddle-tailed Darner:

Paddle-tailed Darner Aeshna palmata (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Aziza Cooper

   Here’s a photograph of one of the Anise Swallowtail caterpillars on the Oenanthe sarmentosa in Bow Park, taken by Katie Turner on September 18:

Anise Swallowtail Papilio zelicaon (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Katie Turner