2017 June 4

   We start with three caterpillars.  The first, on Ocean Spray from Mount Tolmie, is Synaxis jubararia  (Also known as Tetracis jubararia). 

Synaxis jubararia (Lep.: Geometridae)   Jeremy Tatum

   The second, also on Ocean Spray from Mount Tolmie, is a noctuid.  Beyond that we cannot go at present, although I am wondering if it might be Eurois occulta.

Unknown (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Jeremy Tatum

   Gordon Hart found the next one on Snowberry in the Highlands.  We are not sure whether it is a noctuid or an erebid.  One possibility we thought of might be a species of Zale, an erebid – but that is only a guess.

Unknown (Lep.: Erebidae or Noctuidae)  Gordon Hart

Here is a spider from UVic, identified for us by Sean McCann.

Araniella displicata (Ara.:  Araneidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   And a fly from an Oak Bay garden, identified by Jeff Skevington.

Eristalis sp. (Dip.: Syrphidae)   Ann Tiplady

This small bee, also from the Oak Bay garden, is kindly identified for us by Cory Sheffield as Lasioglossum sp.

Lasioglossum sp. (Hym.: Halictidae)   Ann Tiplady

   Last fall, Gordon and Anne-Marie Hart found two huge caterpillars within a few feet-minute in space-time in their Highlands garden.  The moth from one of them – a Cerisy’s Eyed Hawk Moth – was shown on this site on May 2.  The second moth emerged today – a female Polyphemus Moth. I hadn’t seen one for some time and I had forgotten how truly huge and spectacular they are.  I released this one at Munn Road, near the hydro station.

Polyphemus Moth Anthaea polyphemus (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Jeremy Tatum

From the large to the small  –  Aziza Cooper photographed Adela septentrionella at Camas Hill on June 3.

Adela septentrionella (Lep.: Incurvariidae)  Aziza Cooper

Aziza Cooper writes:  Today, Sunday, June 4, the VNHS monthly butterfly walk went to Layritz Park. We found a total of 9 species of butterflies there and at our starting point of Mount Tolmie:

Painted Lady – 1

Red Admiral – 1

Pale Tiger Swallowtail – 3

Western Tiger Swallowtail- 6

Anise Swallowtail – 1

Common (Vancouver Island) Ringlet – 40 or more  (Coenonympha tullia)

Cabbage White – 6

Propertius Duskywing – 3

Western Spring Azure – 6

Some photographs of butterflies seen on the walk will appear in tomorrow’s Invert Alert.

2017 June 3

   We’ll start with a butterfly, and then move on to the difficult ones!  In fact, even the butterfly isn’t without questions, because the background colour isn’t as white as it might be. It has a touch of pale yellow, which suggests Western Tiger Swallowtail. But I think we can be confident that this one, photographed by Nathan Fisk at Fort Rodd Hill yesterday, is a Pale Tiger Swallowtail.

Pale Tiger Swallowtail Papilio eurymedon (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Nathan Fisk

   Now for some bees – and we thank Sean McCann for identifying them for us.

  This one was photographed by Ann Tiplady in Oak Bay.  You’ll notice a little reddish spot on it.  Heather Proctor comments on the mite:

Most likely a deutonymphal Parasitellus (Mesostigmata: Parasitidae), which often hitch rides on bumblebees. Despite the name, they aren’t parasites: http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/beemites/Species_Accounts/Parasitellus.htm.  Members of a couple of other genera of parasitids are also sometimes phoretic on Bombus: http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/beemites/Species_Accounts/Parasitidae.htm

So now you know!

Bombus melanopygus (Hym.: Apidae)  Ann Tiplady

Here’s the same bee – I like the tongue!

Bombus melanopygus (Hym.: Apidae)  Ann Tiplady 

And here’s a different individual of the same species, sporting a slightly different colour scheme.

Bombus melanopygus (Hym.: Apidae)  Ann Tiplady

The next one was photographed at Fort Rodd Hill by Nathan Fisk.

Bombus mixtus (Hym.: Apidae) Nathan Fisk

Back to Oak Bay and Ann Tiplady, for a leaf-cutting cuckoo bee – a brood parasite of other bees.

 Coeloxys sp. (Hym.: Megachilidae)  Ann  Tiplady

And now a metallic green sweat bee, genus Agapostemon.

Agapostemon (probably texanus) (Hym.: Halictidae) Ann Tiplady

The next one is a Narcissus Bulb Fly.

Narcissus Bulb Fly Merodon equestris (Dip.: Syrphidae)   Ann Tiplady

   Increasing the level of difficulty, Bryan Gates writes:  My red alder trees have acquired white, silky tufts on the very recent, newly-sprouting leaves.

  Jeremy Tatum writes:  I don’t think we can go to species for this, but we can go to subfamily, and make a guess at genus.  They are woolly aphids.  Since they are on alder, perhaps they are woolly alder aphids Prociphilus sp., but without a close examination of the insect, we can’t be sure of this.

Woolly aphid (Hem.: Aphididae – Eriosomatinae)  Bryan Gates

Woolly aphid (Hem.: Aphididae – Eriosomatinae)  Bryan Gates

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I found this caterpillar on Nootka Rose at UVic today.  I don’t know what it is, but I can have a guess. I have often seen it on rose before.  I believe it is probably a pug (Eupithecia sp). Pug caterpillars often like flowers, so I’ll offer it a Nootka Rose flower this afternoon and see if it likes it. The only pug on Bolte’s monograph on Canadian pugs for which Rosa is mentioned, is E. maestosa.  But that’s just a guess!

Unidentified caterpillar.  Probably Eupithecia sp. (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum

Gordon Hart writes:

The last Victoria area butterfly count from May 20-28, 2017, produced 17 species, more than the 13 reported in 2016, although total numbers were down from 531 last year to 449 in 2017.  Part of the reason was that the May count seemed more like an April count this year. There were still 19 Sara Orangetips, but last year they were already gone and none were reported. Brown and Moss’s Elfins were still seen, but not in 2016.  There were small numbers of later-appearing species such as Cedar Hairstreak, with 4 this year, and 40 last year; and Western Tiger Swallowtail with 16, compared with 67 in 2016.  High counts were Cabbage Whites 285 (2016: 147), and Western Spring Azure 45 (2016: 15).

Thanks to the 15 observers who sent in 33 reports from about 31 locations.

2017 June 2

From Gordon Hart

Hello Butterfly Enthusiasts,
The third Butterfly Walk of 2017 will take place this Sunday, June 4, starting from the top of Mount Tolmie. We meet by the reservoir opposite the summit parking lot at 1:00 p.m. You can park there or in the big parking lot on the north side of the summit. After a look around the summit, we will decide on a destination at that time. We will car-pool from there and likely be back by 4:00 p.m. or so.  As always, the walk is weather-dependent, although the forecast at this point looks reasonably good.
See you on Sunday,

Gordon

   Liam Singh sends a photograph of a spectacular beetle from Gordon Head, kindly identified by Charlene Wood as a Rugose Stag Beetle.

Rugose Stag Beetle Sinodendron rugosum (Col.:  Lucanidae)  Liam Singh

   Ann Tiplady sends a photograph of a Narcissus Bulb Fly.

Narcissus Bulb Fly Merodon equestris  (Dip.: Syrphidae) Ann Tiplady

  Jeremy Tatum reports that an Anise Swallowtail emerged yesterday, reared from a first-instar caterpillar found on parsley on Jochem Moehr’s Metchosin farm in 2015!  Unfortunately, because it was rather active, I didn’t get a photograph, and I had to release it relatively nearby – on Mount Douglas, where the species used to breed and where it is still seen from time to time.  The adult butterfly sometimes emerges in the same year as when the caterpillar pupates, and sometimes the following year, but this is the first one I have known that spent two winters as a pupa. 

  Jeremy Tatum reports that, at 6:00 pm today, on and around the reservoir and Jeffery Pine on Mount Tolmie, were several Painted Ladies and Red Admirals – some quite fresh, others rather less so.  Difficult to count exact numbers because of a lot of activity, but I would say half-a-dozen or so of each.

   Annie Pang sends photographs of a Black-tailed Bumblebee from Esquimalt Gorge Park.  Thanks to Cory Sheffield and Sean McCann for the identification.

Blacktailed Bumblebee Bombus melanopygus  (Hym.: Apidae)  Annie Pang

Blacktailed Bumblebee Bombus melanopygus  (Hym.: Apidae)  Annie Pang

Blacktailed Bumblebee Bombus melanopygus  (Hym.: Apidae)  Annie Pang

2017 June 1

   Ken Vaughan photographed some dragon/damselflies at the Beaver Lake Retreiver Ponds on May 28.  The last of these five puzzled us a bit, so we are thankful to Rob Cannings for confirming that it is an immature female Pacific Forktail.  Rob remarks that females of this species are pretty variable in colour, especially when young.

Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)  Ken Vaughan

 Four-spotted Skimmer Libellula quadrimaculata (Odo,: Libellulidae)  Ken Vaughan

California Darner Rhionaeschna californica (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Ken Vaughan

Dot-tailed Whiteface Leucorrhinia intacta (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Ken Vaughan

Immature female Pacific Forktail Ischnura cervula (Odo.: Coenagrionidae) 

Ken Vaughan

   Here is another photograph of  Leucoma salicis from Metchosin, taken by Jochen Moehr on his android device.

Leucoma salicis (Lep.: Erebidae – Lymantriidae)  Jochen Moehr

   Jochen notes that he saw his first Anise Swallowtail of the year three days ago.

   Gordon Hart writes:  I walked up Observatory Hill today, and saw only one butterfly – a Propertius Duskywing near the small observatory near the summit.  At home, we have been seeing a Western Tiger Swallowtail since May 27th, and on the 29th, I saw my first two Cedar Hairstreaks.

   Propertius Duskywing Erynnis propertius (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Gordon Hart

   Annie Pang found a highflyer (Hydriomena sp.) on her back porch on May 29.  There are several look-alike species of highflyer, and we are not certain which this one is.

Highflyer Hydriomena sp. (Lep.: Geometridae)  Annie Pang

   Aziza Cooper found a colourful snail at Witty’s Lagoon on May 31.

Cepaea nemoralis (Pul.: Helicidae)  Aziza Cooper

   Erratum   Thanks to Jeff Skevington for pointing out that the fly we had labelled yesterday as a House Fly Musca domestica is in fact a blow fly of the family Sarcophagidae.  I have corrected the label.  I don’t believe anyone has yet photographed a genuine House Fly for Invert Alert.  They don’t actually seem to be that common these days.  There’s a challenge for photographers.

   Dar Churcher photographed another fly from Colwood, and we are grateful to Jeff Skevington for kindly identifying it for us as a female Sphaerophoria.   The small beetle is the dermestid Anthrenus verbasci.

Sphaerophoria sp. (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Dar Churcher

2017 May 31

   Some of us have difficulty in telling a bug from a beetle, so we start today’s entry with two bugs, and we thank Charlene Wood and Claudia Copley for identifications.

The first bug was photographed by Mik Yip in Nanoose Bay on May 23.  Charlene remarks that the two white spots on the wing are characteristic of western specimens.  They feed on a variety of plants as well as scavenging and predating other insects.

Small Milkweed Bug Lygaeus kalmii (Hem.:  Lygaeidae)  Mike Yip

   The second bug was photographed by Dar Churcher in Colwood.  At first we were not sure whether it was Brochymena or Halyomorpha, but Claudia set us right by pointing out the rough shoulders and no white bands on the antenna, which makes it Brochymena.  There are several very similar species.

Rough stink bug Brochymena sp. (Hem.: Pentatomidae)  Dar Churcher

The third photograph is a beetle.  I often find this one or its larva inside my apartment, but Dar photographed it outside on a flower.

Varied Carpet Beetle Anthrenus verbasci (Col.: Dermestidae)  Dar Churcher

I believe the fly below is a female blow fly. 

Blow fly   Probably  Sarcophaga sp.  (Dip.: Sarcophagidae)  Dar Churcher

The spider below was photographed and identified by Dar Churcher as a Woodlouse Spider.  Apparently woodlice are among its favorite prey.

Woodlouse Spider Dysdera crocata (Ara.: Dysderidae)  Dar Churcher

   Annie Pang sends a photograph of a Western Tiger Swallowtail (sans tails!) from Gorge Park, May 29 – the first report of this butterfly to reach Invertebrate Alert this year!

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

Jochen Moehr sends a photograph of a caterpillar of a White Satin Moth from Metchosin, May 31.  This is a European moth, which has become quite common in our area.  The caterpillar feeds on Salix and Populus, perhaps with a preference for Populus alba.

White Satin Moth Leucoma salicis (Lep.: Erebidae – Lymantriidae)  Jochen Moehr

One last photograph for today’s posting.  More tomorrow!  Two European Paper Wasps, from Colwood, photographed by Dar Churcher.

European Paper Wasps Polisres dominula (Hym.: Vespidae)  Dar Churcher