2017 April 16

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I visited Bear Hill today, and I saw just one butterfly, but a welcome one.  A Western Brown Elfin – my fourth individual butterfly of the year, and my first non-Cabbage.  Also on the hill, two Epirrhoe plebeculata, and at the bottom of the hill, among a large growth of brambles, a cloud of many Mesoleuca gratulata.  Gordon Hart had a look in Francis/King Park, and also saw lots of Mesoleuca gratulata and a few Epirrhoe plebeculata, but no butterflies, and Ben van Drimmelen saw no butterflies at Anderson Park.  Remember, all, I want to know what Epirrhoe plebeculata lays its eggs on!

  Devon Parker found one Western Spring Azure in Uplands Park and one Cabbage White on Denison Road.   Annie Pang saw her first Western Brown Elfin and a few Cabbage Whites at Gorge Park.

Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Devon Parker

   Annie Pang photographed a male mining bee Andrena sp. at Gorge Park Community Gardens.

Andrena sp. (Hym.: Andrenidae)  Annie Pang

2017 April 15

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  This morning I happened to Google Egira hiemalis, and one of the sites offered was “Images for Egira hiemalis”.  That site does indeed have many photos of hiemalis, but it also has lots and lots of photos of other moths and other invertebrates  – many of them taken (some quite recently) from our Invert Alert site. The individual photographers are not acknowledged (perhaps they should be?), but they are attributed to vicnhs.  If you look there, you may find some of your own photos.   Whether you are pleased or outraged (or a bit of both!) to see them there is up to you!

   Last year on April 1 Libby Avis found a pretty micro moth at Piper’s Lagoon, Nanaimo, identified by Dave Holden as Eucosoma amphorana. The moth was shown on the 2016 May 16 posting on this site. This year she found it again at the same place on April 11, and it turns out to be a new one for the BC list.  It was among Gumweed Grindelia integrifolia, which is thought to be the host plant – or one of them, anyway.

   Libby continues:  This has been our best week so far this spring. Nothing out of the ordinary, but at least more species showing up. Also got our first two Egira curialis this week. Had a couple of Peridroma saucia, ditto Acerra normalis, one each of Cerastis engimatica, Cladara limitaria, Feralia deceptiva, three different species of Lithophanes, Pleromelloida conserta, Melanolophia imitata, Nola minna, Triphosa & Ypsolopha falciferella. A lot of Venusias – obsoleta/pearsalli types – 10 at the light this morning! Also several sightings on the wing of Epirrhoe plebeculata & Mesoleuca gratulata.

   Devon Parker writes:  Yesterday on the VNHS wildflower walk up Mill Hill we found four species of butterflies. 4 Moss’ Elfins, 2 Western Brown Elfins, 2 Sara Orangetips and 1 Comma  sp. flyby.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Today I walked around Mount Tolmie in the vain hope of seeing a butterfly.  I didn’t see any, but I did see the tiny, tiny reddish geometrid moth Leptostales rubromarginaria. To remind yourself what this one is, have a look at Ron Flower’s photograph posted on May 1, 2016.

2017 April 14

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Until this morning I hadn’t had a moth of any sort – macro or micro – at my Saanich apartment rear door since February 14.  The blank stretch was broken this morning by the moth shown below. 

Egira curialis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   And the only butterfly I had seen this year was a fleeting glimpse of a Cabbage White on April 1 – but today I saw 2 Cabbage Whites at Panama Flats.  Also at Panama Flats, a Banded Woolly Bear (caterpillar of the Isabella Moth).  We usually see these a-plenty at Panama Flats in October.  They overwinter as full-grown caterpillars, and are seen again in early spring.

   Bill Katz identified a couple of nice geometrids at Goldstream this morning:

Thallophaga hyperborea (Lep.: Geometridae)  Bill Katz

 Melanolophia imitata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Bill Katz

   Rebecca Reader-Lee found these snail eggs under some moss while she was gardening at her home in the North Highlands today.  Does anyone dare to identify them?  They certainly look a lot like Cornu aspersum – but I dare say many snail eggs look quite similar.

Snail eggs    Rebecca Reader-Lee

2017 April 13

Message from Gordon Hart

April Butterfly Count

Hi Butterfly Counters.

This weekend marks the beginning of the 2017 Butterfly Count season. As always, the count period is from the third Saturday to the fourth Sunday – nine days, or April 15-23 this year. 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.

The count area is the same as the Christmas Bird Count circle (attached). For butterfly identification there are numerous internet sites, but most or all Victoria species are listed on E-Fauna. If you select by photographer, all the photos under James Miskelly’s name are of Victoria species. Here is the link: http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/efauna/photoGallery/Gallery.aspx?gr=showall&pid=175&photographer=miskelly,%20james&specrep=0

If you would like a suggestion for an area to count, please send me an email  (hartgordon19 at gmail dot com). This year, Mount Tolmie and the University of Victoria grounds, including the dog walking area, are available. If you can only do your backyard or your neighbourhood, that is good, too.

In addition to the counts, a monthly butterfly walk is held on the first Sunday of each month – May 6th,  is the next walk. We start at the summit of Mount Tolmie at 1pm, and decide where to go from there. The walk will be cancelled if the weather is cool or rainy.

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

   Jody Wells sends a photograph of a wolf spider among driftwood near the tip of Cordova Spit, April 12.

 Wolf spider Pardosa vancouveri (Ara.: Lycosidae)  Jody Wells

Libby Avis photographed the spectacular syrphid fly Eristalinus aeneus at Piper’s Lagoon, Nanaimo, April 12.

Eristalinus aeneus (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Libby Avis

Triphosa haesitata/Coryphista meadii.   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Viewers will have noticed that from time to time on this site we have had occasion to puzzle over the identification of these two very similar geometrid moths.  The caterpillars are very different, and they are quite different species – but we have been trying to find subtle ways of distinguishing the adults of this difficult pair.  On our April 9 posting, after humming and hawing for a while, I opted for Coryphista meadii as the probable identity of a moth photographed by Devon Parker in Esquimalt.  Now – scroll down to April 9 to find the amazing true identity of Devon’s moth, as revealed by Libby Avis!

Today, Devon writes:  Today Ian, Rick and I went out to East Sooke Park along the coast trail. We found six Moss’s Elfins and a lot of flies of one species.  Thanks to Drs Jeff Skevington and James O’Hara for identifying the fly as Epalpus signifer – a parasitoidal fly of certain noctuid moths.

Moss’s Elfin Incisalia mossii (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Devon Parker

Epalpus signifer (Dip.: Tachinidae)  Devon Parker

   And, talking of flies, we now have an identification for Thomas Barbin’s fly posted yesterday.  Scroll down to April 12.

2017 April 12

   We now have an identification of yesterday’s tick.  Scroll down to April 11 to see it.

In yesterday’s (April 11) brief spell of sunshine, enthusiasts took the opportunity of finding some butterflies – albeit very few of them.  Nathan Fisk saw a Cabbage White in the learning meadow at Fort Rodd Hill. He writes: Starting to get jealous of the elfins folks are seeing.  [So am I!  –  Jeremy].  And Gerry and Wendy Ansell found at least three Sara Orangetips on the lower western slope of Mount Douglas.

Morgan Davies sends a photograph of a bumblebee on Sea Blush on the Gulf Islands, April 10.  Sean McCann suggests Bombus melanopygus – with the caution that its very dark thorax seems odd for the species.

Black-tailed Bumblebee Bombus melanopygus (Hym.: Apidae)  Morgan Davies

   Don’t sit too close to the screen, unless this jumping spider, photographed in the Highlands District by Thomas Barbin on April 11, suddenly jumps out at you. Thanks to Robb Bennett for confirming the identification.

Salticus scenicus (Ara.: Salticidae)  Thomas Barbin

If you survived that one, don’t relax.  The photograph of two ants (Formica sp., known as thatching ants), dragging an earwig into their nest, was taken by Thomas Barbin yesterday.  Dr Robert Higgins of Thompson Rivers University cautions that there is no way to be sure of the species without microscopic examination, but the Formicas that he sees most often in SW BC are Formica oreas.  The extensive dusky colour on one of the ants suggest this as a possibility, but it could well be another species.

 Formica sp. (Hym.: Formicidae)  Thomas Barbin

Thomas also photographed the fly below.  Thank you to Andrew Young for identifying it as Melanostoma apicale.

Melanostoma apicale (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Thomas Barbin