2024 May 16

 More invertebrate photographs by Ian Cooper

 Ambigolimax valentianus (Pul.: Limacidae)   Ian Cooper

Snakefly – Agulla sp. (Raphidiidae)  Ian Cooper

Snakefly – Agulla sp. (Raphidiidae)  Ian Cooper

    Ian writes:   Passing this along because it’s an interesting scene: I spotted a crab spider approaching the snakefly on the blade of grass.. At a certain point, the two had an exchange of flinches, but there was no attempt to attack by the spider. The snakefly repositioned itself somewhat and the spider retreated. It may be that they were both simply startled by each others’ presence. It’s also possible that my efforts to get in closer to photograph them may have inadvertently disrupted the spider’s stalking.  I was relieved nothing came of it, except this and other photos!

Snakefly and spider encounter   Ian Cooper

Probably Culiseta sp.  (Dip.: Culicidae) Ian Cooper

Soil Centipede – Order Geophilomorpha       Ian Cooper

2024 May 15

   Jeremy Tatum reports two Painted Ladies on the top of Mount Douglas, and one Western Tiger Swallowtail on the top of Mount Tolmie this afternoon.  He writes that he is still not seeing a lot of butterflies.  “I have still not yet seen a comma this year.”

More middle-of-the-night invertebrates from Ian Cooper.  Dr Bennett writes of the spider in the first photograph below:  That’s a male philodromid crab spider. Probably Philodromus rufus but I will be conservative and stick with Philodromus sp.

Male Philodromus sp. (maybe rufus)  (Ara.: Philodromidae)  Ian Cooper

Ian writes of the next one:  Unidentified spider who resides in a hole in the bark of a conifer by the GG trail (possibly Cybaeus sp. (Ara.: Cybaeidae), or Callobius sp. (Ara.: Amaurobiidae) with a captured Theridiidae sp. (cobweb weaver).

See note above.    Ian Cooper

Unidentified ant  (Hym.: Formicidae)  Ian Cooper

Unidentified aphid (Hem.: Aphididae)  Ian Cooper

Dicyphus discrepans (Hem.: Miridae)  Ian Cooper

Protolophus sp. (Opiliones: Protolophidae)   Ian Cooper

2024 May 14

Here are more invertebrates that move around our feet mostly unnoticed, except by Ian Cooper who seeks them out with his camera in the nighttime.

First, a globose springtail.  We thank Dr Frans Janssens for confirming Ian’s suggested identification as Ptenothrix maculosa.

 Ptenothrix maculosa (Coll.:  Dicyrtomidae)  Ian Cooper

   Next, a slug.  Robert Forsyth writes:  Possibly Arion hortensis. But tricky, and confirmation requires a rather difficult (for me) dissection. In the Arion hortensis group of species, A. distinctus seems to be the common one in BC (or at least around Victoria, when I was doing the needed dissections to determine species properly). But true A. hortensis is known in BC.

Arion sp. (Pul.: Arionidae)  Ian Cooper

Enoplognatha ovata (Ara.: Theridiidae)  Ian Cooper

Clubiona sp. (Ara.: Clubionidae)  Ian Cooper

Froghopper (Spittle Bug)  (Hem.: Cercopidae)  Ian Cooper

Culiseta incidens  (Dip.: Culicidae)  Ian Cooper

2024 May 13

   Here is a photograph of a slug taken by Ian Cooper at Colquitz River Park.  We are grateful to Robert Forsyth for confirming that it is almost certainly Ambigolimax valentianus.  “Almost certainly” , because “there is always the chance that it is another Ambigolimax, such as A. parvipenis, which is in California”, but which cannot easily be distinguished externally.  “It is not yet known from BC, but it is widespread in California.”

Ambigolimax valentianus  (Pul.: Limacidae)   Ian Cooper

Ian also photographed this noctuid caterpillar, whose identity we have not yet determined.

Unidentified caterpillar  (Lep.: Noctuidae) Ian Cooper

Jeff Gaskin writes:   Today, May 13, there was one California Ringlet at Viaduct Flats.  It was in the grassy field just north of Markham Road.  Also, at the flats were one Mourning Cloak and a few Western Spring Azures.