2022 September 2 morning

    Jochen Möhr sends a photograph, obtained in Metchosin of a flutter fly yesterday:

Flutter fly Toxonevra muliebris (Dip.:  Pallopteridae)  Jochen Möhr

The genus is sometimes spelled Toxoneura, and the fly has also been listed in the genus Palloptera, but the currently preferred scientific name and spelling are as given in the caption under the photograph.   This is a European species only recently recognized in British Columbia.  The history and list of records in British Columbia are given in Cannings and Gibson JESBC 116, 64-68 (2009).  The first British Columbia record was in 2016. To the list in Cannings and Gibson, we can add one more (in addition to the record here), namely one was photographed in Metchosin, also by Jochen, 2019 July 26, shown on this Invertebrate Alert Website for that date.

Cheryl Hoyle sends photographs of two flies from View Royal, August 30.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  I cannot be 100 percent sure of their identifications, but I believe there is a fairly high probability that I have labelled them correctly.

Phaonia (possibly pallida) (Dip.: Anthomyiidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

(Placed by some authors in Muscidae)

Anthrax sp. (Dip.: Bombyliidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Cheryl  shows that ripe figs can be a good attractant for moths and other insects.  We identify only the largest moth in each photograph.

Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Catocala (probably aholibah) (Lep.: Erebidae – Erebinae)    Cheryl Hoyle

  Here are more photographs by Ian Cooper – taken in the middle of the night.   The first is a nematoceran fly – possibly but not certainly a chironomid.  If any viewer can help, please let us know.

Unknown (Dip. –  Nematocera)  Ian Cooper

Next, two unidentified moth caterpillars.

Unknown (Lep.: Geometridae)  Ian Cooper

Unknown (Lep.)  Ian Cooper

2022 September 1

    There are few butterflies around now – mostly Cabbage Whites and Woodland Skippers. Here’s a Woodland Skipper photographed by Aziza Cooper at Fort Rodd Hill today, September 1.

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Aziza Cooper

   Val George writes: Every morning for the past week there have been one or two – probably the same individuals – of these Drepanulatrix moths on the wall of my Oak Bay house.

   Drepanulatrix is a difficult genus including several species for which the variation within a species sometimes seems to be greater than the variation between species.  Libby Avis and Jeremy Tatum think that Val’s moth most closely resembles D. secundaria.

Drepanulatrix (probably secundaria) (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

2022 August 31 evening

    Jeff Gaskin writes:  Today, August 31, Kirsten Mills just found a late Western Tiger Swallowtail in Browning Park.  This is a small park near Hillside Centre.  Jeff adds:  I’m pretty sure I saw a Black Saddlebags dragonfly on the Galloping Goose trail in Colwood on August 26.  It was seen on the trail between Aldeane Avenue or the entrance to Royal Roads University and Ocean Boulevard.  Also, at the pond at the end of Fisher’s Trail today, August 31, there were a number of Blue-eyed Darners and one or two Paddle-tailed Darners.

Ian Cooper writes: Here are a few more classic pollinators, all photographed within the last couple of weeks along the Galloping Goose trail.

Honey Bee  Apis mellifera (Hym.: Apidae) on wild spearmint.  Ian Cooper

 European Paper Wasp Polistes dominula (Hym.: Vespidae) on Queen Anne’s Lace.

Ian Cooper

Bald-faced hornet  Dolichovespula maculata (Hym.: Vespidae) on Snowberry.

   Ian Cooper

Woodland Skipper – Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) on wild spearmint.

Ian Cooper

Megachile (possibly perihirta)  (Hym.:Megachilidae) on Lathyrus.  Ian Cooper

2022 August 31 morning

     Ian Cooper recently photographed two Psyllobora lady beetles that look rather similar, but which are different species.  The two photographs make a useful comparison of the two.  Scott Gilmore writes:  The close up one is P. borealis and the other is a darker form of P. vigintimaculata. The second one can be quite variable but never has a small isolated spot near the outer edge of the elytra. 

Psyllobora borealis (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Ian Cooper

Psyllobora vigintimaculata (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Ian Cooper

2022 August 30

   Colias alert!

     Mike McGrenere writes:  I cycled out to the Martindale area in the early afternoon and stopped at McIntyre reservoir. As I walked along the west side of the reservoir, an Orange Sulphur was flying around with Cabbage Whites.

   Jochen Möhr photographed these moths at his Metchosin home last night.  Also there, but not photographed, were five Udea profondalis.

Spargania magniolata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Spargania magniolata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Xestia xanthographa (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Xestia xanthographa (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Xestia xanthographa (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.:  Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Ian Cooper photographed this curious creature two nights ago at Colquitz Creek Park.  We do not know for certain what it is, but we assume that it is a bug (Hemiptera) and possibly either an adult or a nymph from the large mirid genus Phytocoris.  If any viewer has an idea, please do let us know.

Unidentified bug, possibly Phytocoris sp. (Hem.: Miridae)   Ian Cooper

   Ian photographed the following spiders in the middle of the night last night.

Zygiella sp. (Ara.: Araneidae)  Ian Cooper

Philodromid spider (Ara.: Philodromidae)

Immature male in the Philodromus/Rhysodromus group of species

Ian Cooper

Male Araneus diadematus (Ara.: Araneidae)  Ian Cooper

Jody Wells sends a photograph of a Black Saddlebags from Brentwood Bay, today, August 30.

Black Saddlebags Tramea lacerata (Odo.: Libellulidae) Jody Wells