2020 April 20 afternoon

   Jochen Möhr writes from Metchosin:

   We have very regular visits of Sara Orangetips from about 11 am to 5 pm.  Yesterday, I watched continuously from 3:45 to 4:45, and in that hour counted 18 Sara Orangetips which gives an average interval of a bit over three minutes between sightings.  In reality the interval between sightings was more like five to twenty minutes, but repeatedly, I saw two or three simultaneously.  Some females hovered at length among the grasses and I think they were ovipositing. [The eggs are laid on Arabis glabra and other related brassicaceous plants (not cabbage!).  Jeremy Tatum]  I saw about 1 Western Spring Azure for every three orangetips, and only one single Cabbage White and one Comma all day. 

   But walking through the meadow, I got close to one Western Spring Azure and one Moss’s Elfin.

Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Jochen Möhr

Moss’s Elfin Incisalia mossii (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jochen continues:  Today, I watched from my deck from 10:45 to 11:45 AM.  In that hour, I had 19 sightings of Orangetips,with up to three simultaneously appearing.  I also saw two Western Spring Azures  and one white, presumably a Cabbage White, which engaged in a dance with one of the orangetips, both rising high above the tree tops.

   Jochen’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

1 Anticlea vasiliata

1 Behrensia conchiformis

4 Cladara limitaria 

1 Eupithecia graefii

1 Feralia comstocki

5 Hydriomena manzanita

4 Melanolophia imitata

1 Perizoma curvilinea

1 Schreckensteinia festaliella

1 Unidentified pyralid

2 Xanthorhoe defensaria

  Jeremy Tatum writes:  Schreckensteinia festaliella is quite a mouthful for a tiny moth scarcely larger than a House Fly.  The Family name, Schreckensteiniidae, is probably not familiar to everyone.  The caterpillar feeds on Salmonberry and Raspberry, so, if you grow Raspberries, you might see one occasionally.  You might even have eaten one.

Schreckensteinia festaliella (Lep.: Schreckensteiniidae)  Jochen Möhr

Feralia comstocki (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Behrensia conchiformis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Eupithecia graefii (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Xanthorhoe defensaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Johcen Möhr

2020 April 20 morning

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Here in suburban Saanich I don’t have quite the variety of moths than Jochen has in rural Metchosin, but my apartment is not totally devoid of moths.  Here, for example this morning, is the Common Clothes Moth Tineola bisselliella, from my bedroom.

Tineola bisselliella (Lep.: Tineidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Rosemary Jorna writes from the Kemp Lake area:  I saw butterflies out in the Otter Point area yesterday. A Cabbage White in our yard , a Mourning Cloak  and a Western Spring Azure  near Young Lake and three Western Spring Azures dancing on the hillside below a friend’s deck. All of them were too far away or too fast to photograph,  but it is a joy to see some butterflies out here at last.
 I did get this photo of a cuckoo bee or nomad bee in my sister’s yard on Kemp Lake Road:

Nomada sp.  (Hym.:  Apidae)  Rosemary Jorna

2020 April 19 afternoon

   Here’s a Carpenter Ant photographed by Mr E at Coles Bay and identified by Sean McCann as Camponotus modoc.

Camponotus modoc (Hym.: Formicidae) Mr E

   The next insect, also photographed by Mr E at Coles Bay, is identified by Sean McCann as a nomad bee of the genus – what else? – Nomada.

Nomada sp.  (Hym.:  Apidae)  Mr E

   Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

1 Cerastis enigmatica

3 Cladara  limitaria 

2 Egira crucialis 

1 Egira perlubens

1 Eupithecia annulata

1 Eupithecia graefii

1 Eupithecia sp.

1 Feralia deceptiva

3 Hydriomena manzanita 

5 Melanolophia imitata

1 Perizoma curvilinea 

5 Venusia obsoleta /pearsalli

2 Xanthorhoe defensaria

Jeremy Tatum writes: None of us is yet 100 percent certain of how to distinguish Egira simplex from Egira crucialis. I have labelled all three moths in the two photographs below as Egira crucialis, though I do so with some trepidation.

Egira crucialis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Egira crucialis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Egira rubrica (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Xanthorhoe defensaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

2020 April 19  morning

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  We start this morning with two spiders.  Thanks to Dr Robb Bennett for the identifications.

  The first is from Jochen Möhr in Metchosin.  It has captured a geometrid moth, which I might be able to identify if I had the energy.  But I don’t have the energy!

Zebra spider Salticus scenicus (Ara.: Salticidae)  Jochen Möhr

   The second was photographed at Coles Bay, North Saanich, by Mr E:

Arctosa perita (Ara.: Lycosidae)   Mr E

   Dr Bennett writes:

Arctosa perita, a species of Mediterranean origin established here sometime in the last half of the 20^th century.  Here are the BC locality data we have for this species:

Savary Is, Nanaimo (Richard Lk), Kludahk Trail (~13km NW Jordan R), Victoria area (Island View Beach), Vancouver area (Burnaby, Coquitlam, Iona Beach, Deas Is, Boundary Bay)

Arctosa perita is a very pretty spider. Relatively abundant in the dune area and other sandy spots at Island View Beach. They can be hard to spot—their coloration and patterning make them blend in very well with the sand.

   Yesterday Ron Flower photographed a dragonfly at Gore Park, Central Saanich.  Thanks to Dr Rob Cannings for identifying it as a female California Darner.

Caifornia Darner Rhionaeschna californica (Odo.: Aeschnidae)   Ron Flower

   Here’s a pug photographed in Metchosin yesterday by Jochen Möhr.   Thanks to Libby Avis for identifying it as Eupithecia rotundopuncta.

Eupithecia rotundopuncta (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

  Next is a mite, identified by Dr Heather Proctor as a predatory snout mite of the family Bdellidae, from Cole Bay, North Saanich:

Snout mite (Acari:  Bdellidae)  Mr E

2020 April 18

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I visited the pond near the Pike Lake Substation on Munn Road this afternoon.  I saw just two Western Spring Azures and one Sara Orangetip.  Also a few damselflies and mayflies. Perhaps the most interesting thing was that I watched two Wandering Shrews at length and at close quarters – but since they have backbones, they are not allowed on this site.

Jochen Möhr’s moths from Metchosin this morning:

1 Cerastis enigmatica

3 Cladara limitaria

1 Egira curialis

2 Egira crucialis

6 Epithecias 

1 Feralia comstocki

3 Melanolophia imitata

1 Orthosia hibisci

3 Perizoma curvilinea

6 Venusia obsoleta/pearsalli

2 Xanthorhoe defensaria

Cerastis enigmatica (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Cladara limitaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

Egira crucialis (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Egira curialis (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Eupithecia ravocostaliata/nevadata (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

Probably Eupithecia nevadata (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

Feralia comstocki  (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Xanthorhoe defensaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

   Gordon Hart sends photographs of a male Sara Orangetip and a California Tortoiseshell  from Mount Tolmie today.

Male Sara Orangetip Anthocharis sara (Lep.: Pieridae)  Gordon Hart

California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Gordon Hart

   Ron Flower writes:  Today April 18 we went to Gore Park where there were many Western Spring Azures and our first dragonfly of the year.  [Jeremy Tatum says:  I’ll try and post the dragonfly tomorrow!]

Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Ron Flower

Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Ron Flower

More tomorrow – I didn’t have time to post everything!   – J