July 22

   Two more moths from Metchosin, sent by Jochen Möhr.

Hydriomena californiata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Johen Möhr

   Note the mite at the base of the left hand forewing.

Welsh Wave  Venusia cambrica (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  The small moth below, which ecloded (emerged) today, was from the caterpillar that Val George found on Mentha in his Oak Bay garden, illustrated on July 6 and 7.  The moth is quite variable – compare the photo that Val took of a moth of this species from his garden on July 2, and probably from the same batch.

Pyrausta californicalis (Lep.: Crambidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Cheryl Hoyle sends a photograph of a moth from View Royal and a grasshopper from Metchosin, July 21.

Zale lunata (Lep.: Erebidae – Erebinae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Dissosteira carolina (Orth.: Acrididae)  Cheryl Hoyle

   Butterflies are a bit scarce just now.  Cabbage Whites are ubiquitous.  There are still Lorquin’s Admirals and Western Tiger Swallowtails around.   Pine Whites and Woodland Skippers are just starting.  Please keep reporting Lorquin’s Admirals and Western Tiger Swallowtails, familiar though they may be, so that we can get a handle on the last dates.   Here’s a Western Tiger Swallowtail from The Gorge Tillicum area, July 19:

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Annie Pang

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Annie Pang

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Annie Pang

    This just in from Gordon Hart – computer glitch delayed it for a couple of days:  On Wednesday July 18, at home, I saw two Pine Whites, a Grey Hairstreak, several Lorquin’s Admirals, a Pale Tiger Swallowtail, several Cabbage Whites, and five Woodland Skippers. Today, July 20, at the Pike Lake Substation ponds, I checked patches of Spreading Dogbane and found 11 Woodland Skippers.  There were only one or two Lorquin’s Admirals flying. I saw two or three Sheep Moths flying furiously by, or perhaps the same one. I am attaching photos of a Pine White from home today nectaring on Heliotrope, and one of the Woodland Skippers on Dogbane flowers.

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

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae)

    And this just in from Jeff Gaskin:  Yesterday, July 21, 2018, I saw 35 Pine Whites at Witty’s Lagoon Park also including Tower Point.  Plus I saw a further 110 Pine Whites at Royal Roads University.

   …and that’s about all I can manage today!  Jeremy Tatum

July 21

   Val George sends a picture of Idaea dimidiata from his Oak Bay garden, July 20.

Idaea dimidiata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

   Jeremy  Tatum writes:  I saw my first two Woodland Skippers of the year today, at Durrance Lake.  Also there were large numbers of Eight-spotted Skimmers.  This evening at 6:00 pm there was a Red Admiral on the bushes just outside the entrance to the Mount Tolmie Reservoir.

July 20

   In case you were wondering….  I had incorrectly labelled the previous posting as July 18.  I have now corrected it to July 19.  There was a July 18 morning posting, but not a July 18 evening.

   Notice from Gordon Hart:

Hello Butterfly Counters,

The July count runs nine days from the third Saturday, July 21, to the fourth Sunday, July 29. You can submit a count anytime over this period, and you can do more than one count, just use a separate form for each count. In the case of repeat counts, or more than one person counting an area, I will take the highest count for each species.

Please use the form at https://www.vicnhs.bc.ca/?p=33 on the Victoria Natural History Society website. If you have a zero count, or just one or two butterflies, you can email me directly.

The count area is the same as the Christmas Bird Count circle (attached). For butterfly identification, the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT) has a useful chart of butterflies of southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands: http://www.goert.ca/documents/Butterfly_ID_sheet.pdf

If you would like a suggestion for an area to count, please send me an email.

In addition to the counts, a monthly butterfly walk is held on the first Sunday of each month – the next walk will be on August 5. We start at the summit of Mount Tolmie at 1pm, and decide where to go from there. I will send out another reminder near the month-end.

Thank-you for submitting your sightings and happy counting!

Gordon Hart

Butterfly Count Coordinator

Victoria Natural History Society

Count circle map link:

http://christmasbirdcount.ca/bcvi/CBCMaps.html#VictoriaMap

Two more Metchosin moths from Jochen Möhr, kindly identified by Libby Avis.

Hesperumia latipennis (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Homorthodes hanhami (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Aziza Cooper writes: On July 19 I found this Woodland Skipper at Bear Hill. Also there were one Pine White, three Western Tiger Swallowtails and six Lorquin’s Admirals.  Jeremy Tatum writes: I thought I was seeing my first Woodland Skippers of the year today (July 20) at Puckle Road, Central Saanich, but on closer imspection it turned out that they were two latish Essex Skippers.

   Annie Pang sends a picture of a male halictid bee of the genus Agapostemon.

Male Agapostemon sp.  (Hym.: Halictidae)  Annie Pang

July 19

   What a wonderful array of moths Jochen Möhr is finding in Metchosin!  Here are a few more.  We thank Libby Avis for identifications.

    The first is a “Cat” – i.e a member of the large genus Catocala of large, spectacular “Underwing” moths, many of which are frustratingly difficult to identify.  This one may be C. semirelicta, but for safety I’m going to label it just Catocala sp.

Catocala sp. (Lep.: Erebidae – Catocalinae)  Jochen Möhr

Iridopsis emasculata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Lacinipolia sp. (probably pensilis)  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

July 18 morning

    And now for something completely different.  Rosemary Jorna writes:  Here is another of this summer’s interesting insect actions.  I believe this is a Giant Water Bug. It is over 5 cm. The grandchildren caught it in a net in the shallows on the Sooke River yesterday (July 17).  When we released it it came to rest underwater on a rock, then next thing we saw was the crayfish head under the rock followed by the bug. A few seconds later the bug emerged, dragging out the crayfish, which soon stopped struggling. We watched in fascinated horror for five minutes or so.

   Rosemary tells us that the Signal Crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus, our only native crayfish, occurs in the Sooke River, so it is probable that that is what this one is.  However, there are a few non-native crayfish in British Columbia, and we can’t be absolutely sure of this one.  Rosemary speculates that it might have just finished a moult, which might account for its very light colour. The main claws showed red.

Giant Water Bug Lethocerus americanus (Hem.: Belostomatidae)

Crayfish, probably Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dec.: Astacidae)

   Rosemary also sends a photograph of a beetle from Sooke River, kindly identified by Scott Gilmore as Xestoleptura crassipes.

Xestoleptura crassipes (Col.: Cerambycidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   Jochen Möhr sends a photograph of the moth Iridopsis emasculata from Metchosin.

Iridopsis emasculata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr