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.

2024 November 30

2024 November 30

No Invertebrate Alert was issued on November 29.

   Dr Robb Bennett writes:  One of my sons found several of these masses of cocooned caterpillars in his very dry and covered firewood supply. Very tough silk and they had virtually glued pieces of wood together.

Jeremy Tatum writes:  There must be between 100 and 200 of these cocoons. As Robb says, the cocoons are made of very tough silk, and each one examined contains a caterpillar, not yet a pupa.   We don’t know what they are, but with luck eventually one or two moths will emerge and we may possibly then be able to identify them.

Mass of from 100 to 200 unidentified moth cocoons.   Robb Bennett

Caterpillars from the above cocoons    Robb Bennett

 

Here are more pictures taken during Ian Cooper’s  November  26 photo shoot in *Colquitz River Park in Saanich and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.

*Large Yellow Underwing Moth  Noctua pronuba  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Ian Cooper

#Globular Springtail Ptenothrix sp. (Coll.: Dicyrtomidae)  Ian Cooper

*Grey Field Slug  Deroceras reticulatum (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)  Ian Cooper

#Longneck Field Slug  Deroceras invadens – (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)   Ian Cooper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024 November 28

2024 November 28

Here are a few more pictures from Ian Cooper’s November 26 2024 photo shoot.
*Colquitz River Park and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.

 

*Large Yellow Underwing Moth  Noctua pronuba  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Ian Cooper

# Cross Orb-weaver Araneus diadematus  (Ara.: Araneidae)  Ian Cooper

# Globular Springtail  Ptenothrix sp. (Coll.: Dicyrtomidae)  Ian Cooper

 

# Flat-backed Millepede  Scytonotus sp. (Diplopoda:  Polydesmidae)  Ian Cooper

* Grey Field Slug  Deroceras reticulatum (Pul.: Agriolimacidae)  Ian Cooper

# Common Rough Woodlouse  Porcellio scaber (Isopoda: Porcellionidae)  Ian Cooper

 

 

 

2024 November 27

2024 November 27

   More invertebrates from Ian Cooper’s November 26 photo shoot in *Colquitz River Park in Saanich and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.

Large Yellow Underwing moth  Noctua pronuba  (Lep.: Noctuidae) Ian Cooper

 

# Probably Beaded Lancetooth  Ancotrema sportella (Pul.: Haplotrematidae)   Ian Cooper

# Northwest Hesperian  Vespericola columbianus (Pul.: Polygyridae)   Ian Cooper

 

# Chocolate Arion  Arion rufus (Pul.: Arionidae)   Ian Cooper

* Cybaeus (probably reticulatus or eutypus (Ara.: Cybaeidae)   Ian Cooper
Thanks to Dr Robb Bennett for help with the identification of this one

* Unidentified female linyphiid spider (Ara.: Linyphiidae)   Ian Cooper

2024 November 26

2024 November 26

No Invertebrate Alert was issued on November 25.

Michele Hannem sends a photograph of one of three Cabbage White chrysalides that she found on the walls of her house in Metchosin.

Cabbage White  Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae)   Michele Hannem

 

Ian Cooper writes:  I had a good photo shoot at Colquitz River Park in Saanich and the Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal overnight.

.  We start with Ian’s photograph of an unusual (but apparently not uncommon) introduced Caucasian slug, known as the Worm Slug, which spends much of its time unseen burrowing underground.

Worm Slug  Boettgerilla pallens (Pul.: Boettgerillidae) Ian Cooper

Lauria cylindracea  (Pul.:  Lauriidae)   Ian Cooper

 

More tomorrow…

 

2024 November 24

2024 November 24


Ian Cooper writes:  Here are six more pictures from my November 21-22 photo shoot in *Colquitz River Park and the #Galloping Goose Trail in View Royal.

# Cross Orb-weaver  Araneus diadematus (Ara.: Araneidae)  Ian Cooper

*A young harvestman  Protolophus sp. (Opiliones: Protolophidae)  Ian Cooper

 

# Flat-backed Millepede  Scytonotus sp. (Diplopoda:  Polydesmidae)  Ian Cooper


Globular Springtail  Ptenothrix sp. (Coll. –  Symphypleona:  Dicyrtomenidae)  Ian Cooper

* European Sowbug  Oniscus asellus (Isopoda: Oniscidae)  Ian Cooper

Winter Moth  Operophtera brumata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Ian Cooper

 

This moth is freshly emerged from its pupa – its wings as yet not fully expanded.  In a few minutes, it will look perfect.

Talking of winter moths, anyone who has time to go out to the Goldstream Park Nature House  (I don’t think I can make it, writes Jeremy Tatum), to photograph a winter moth there, the chances are better than evens that the moth will be a native Western Winter Moth Operophtera occidentalis rather than the  abundant European O. brumata.  There’s also a good chance there of finding Erannis sp.  And a small, but exciting, chance of finding Operophtera danbyi.