INVERTEBRATE ALERT
This blog provides an informal forum for terrestrial invertebrate watchers to post recent sightings of interesting observations in the southern Vancouver Island region. Please send your sightings by email to Jeremy Tatum (tatumjb352@gmail.com). Be sure to include your name, phone number, the species name (common or scientific) of the invertebrate you saw, location, date, and number of individuals. If you have a photograph you are willing to share, please send it along. Click on the title above for an index of past sightings.The index is updated most days.

April 12 evening

2108 April 12 evening

  

 More of Jochen’s moths from Metchosin.

 


Hydriomena manzanita (Lep.: Geometridae)    Jochen Moehr

 


Egira crucialis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 


Egira simplex (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 


Cussusa indiscreta (Lep.: Erebidae)  Jochen Moehr

 


Feralia deceptiva  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 


Orthosia praeses (Lep.: Noctuidae)

 


Eupithecia ravocostaliata/nevadata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jocjen Moehr

 


Cladaria limitaria (Lep.: Geometridae_  Jochen Moehr

 


Egira hiemalis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr


Egira perlubens (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 

 

 

 

April 12 morning

2018 April 12 morning

 

   Continuing with Jochen Moehr’s remarkable series of moths from Metchosin in the last few nights.   We start with three pugs.

 

Eupithecia graefii (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Moehr

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

Eupithecia gilvipennata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Moehr

Two more geometrids:

 

Venusia obsoleta/pearsalli (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Moehr

Venusia obsoleta/pearsalli (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Moehr

…and two noctuids:

 

Behrensia conchiformis (Lep: Noctuidae) Jochen Moehr

Egira rubrica (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 

More this evening in this series – and thanks to Libby Avis for help with identifications.

 

April 11

2018 April 11

 

   Jochen Moehr continues to get exciting moths in Metchosin.  Here are a few – there’ll be more to come in the next posting!   Thanks to Libby Avis for help with the identifications.

 

 

Orthosia praeses (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Moehr

Orthosia praeses (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Moehr

Orthosia praeses (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Moehr

Orthosia hibisci (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Moehr

Orthosia hibisci (Lep.: Noctuidae)Jochen Moehr

Orthosia hibisci (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

Orthosia hibisci (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Moehr

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I’m envious – all I could find at the well-lit rear door of my Saanich apartment building this morning was a weevil.

 

Otiorhynchus singularis (Col.: Curculionidae)   Jeremy Tatum

 

Although this site is for terrestrial invertebrates, I couldn’t resist this next one – a marine mite.  I didn’t know there were such things.  It was photographed by John MacFarlane.  Dr Heather Proctor writes:  This is a mesostigmatan.  There are no completely subaquatic mesostigs, so this was probably from the intertidal zone, or possibly got washed into deeper water.  Unfortunately it is a nymph, so I can’t tell what Family it belongs to.

 

Jeremy Tatum writes: Until I have time to work on going through all the mites on this site, for the present I am listing, in the Index, all mites and ticks under the Order Acari.  However, in modern classifications, Acari is a Subclass (or at least something higher than Order).  Parasitiformes might be regarded as an Order within the Acari, and the Mesostigmata as a Suborder within Parasitiformes.

 

Nymphal marine mite (Acari – Parasitiformes – Mesostigmata)

John MacFarlane

   Viewers who are interested in trying their hand at amateur photomicrography, or indeed more experienced photomicrographers, may be interested in a site being designed by Mr MacFarlane for that purpose.  See the Invert Alert entry for March 29, or go to micronaturalist.ca or write to Mr MacFarlane at:   microscope at shaw dot ca    for more details.  It sounds interesting.

 

 

April 10 evening

2018 April 10 evening

 

   Thomas Barbin writes:  I have a photo from yesterday evening (April 9, 2018) in Goldstream Provincial Park. At the time I thought the midge just had something stuck to its leg, it wasn’t until I had the photos on my computer that I saw what was going on.

   The photo is of a midge (Tribe Chironomini) with a nematode parasite emerging from the abdomen (Family Mermithidae). Photographed on the roof of my car. Both identifications were made by Viktor Baranov on iNaturalist.ca.

 

Midge (Dip.: Chironomidae –  inae  –  ini)

Nematode (Mermithida:  Mermithidae)

Thomas Barbin

 

 

   Ron Flower writes:  Today April 10 we saw our first Western Spring Azure by the large rocks in front of Swan Lake nature house.  And Val George writes (presumably of the same butterfly?): My first butterfly of the season, a Western Spring Azure  –  seen this morning, April 10, at Swan Lake by the Tuesday birding group.

 

Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Val George

 

   Mike McGrenere writes: With the sun out this afternoon, Barb and I went hiking on the lower SW slopes of Mount Douglas, just up from Blenkinsop Road. We were looking for our first Sara Orangetip of the year and we saw one along the trail. There was only one and it preferred to fly below the trail (out of the wind) in the Garry Oaks. It was not cooperative for a photo.

 

April 10 morning

2018 April 10 morning

 

   Some difficult puzzles from Jochen.  The noctuid pair Egira crucialis/simplex is notoriously difficult to separate.  Jochen photographed five individuals in Metchosin.  Here they are.  Several enthusiasts have pored over them.  There seems to be agreement that the first is probably simplex.  The next three are probably crucialis.  There have been five votes on the fifth.  Two say probably simplex, two say probably crucialis, and one abstention!  No one says absolutely definitely on any of them.  The hindwings would be a help.  Also the caterpillars, which are quite distinct in the final instar.

 

Probably Egira simplex (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 

Probably Egira crucialis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 

 

 

Probably Egira crucialis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 

 

Probably Egira crucialis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 

 


Egira crucialis/simplex (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

 

 

 

   Another pair that is difficult to distinguish is Eupithecia ravocostaliata/nevadata.

Jochen sends a photograph of one believed to be ravocostaliata.

 


Eupithecia ravocostaliata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Moehr

 

 

   Scott Gilmore sends photographs of another spider from Upper Lantzville.  Robb Bennett writes:  Hey!  Nice one…BC’s only “lynx spider” (Oxyopidae): Oxyopes scalaris.  Fairly common across southern Canada and south into Mexico but, for some reason, we hardly ever collect it around here or see images of it. The only other Vancouver Island records we have for it are from around Victoria so I will add the Lantzville record to the database.

 

Lynx spider Oxyopes scalaris (Ara.: Oxyopidae)    Scott Gilmore

 

Lynx spider Oxyopes scalaris (Ara.: Oxyopidae)    Scott Gilmore

 

 

Lynx spider Oxyopes scalaris (Ara.: Oxyopidae)    Scott Gilmore

 

 

 

Lynx spider Oxyopes scalaris (Ara.: Oxyopidae)    Scott Gilmore