2021 May 11 evening

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  5:30 pm today on the Mount Tolmie reservoir (actually on the reservoir – not around the Jeffery Pine), a pristine fresh Painted Lady.  Also a not-quite-so-pristine-fresh Mourning Cloak and a California Tortoiseshell.  That’s one each of three nymphalid butterflies.

  Rosemary Jorna sends a photograph of a Zebra Jumping Spider from the Kemp Lake area today.

Zebra Jumping Spider Salticus scenicus (Ara.: Salticidae)  Rosemary Jorna

2021 May 11 morning

   Rosemary Jorna sends two photographs of an unknown caterpillar from a spruce tree near Kemp Lake.   

Unknown caterpillar  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Rosemary Jorna

Unknown caterpillar  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Rosemary Jorna

   Rosemary writes:  We were hiking in the Sooke Hills between Harbourview and YMC’s Camp Thunderbird and for the first time this year I saw butterflies – one swallowtail and one fresh comma.   Neither would co operate for the camera.  Single blues appeared at three locations but near the end of the hike four blues were active, and I was able to get a clear photo of one of them.  Two more blues were cruising round the garden at a friend’s home in the Kemp Lake area later in the afternoon. This was my first good butterfly day.

Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   Jeremy Tatum sends two photographs of a caterpillar from Ocean Spray on Christmas Hill.

Tetracis jubararia (Lep.: Geometridae)   Jeremy Tatum

Tetracis jubararia (Lep.: Geometridae)   Jeremy Tatum

   Mr E writes from Mount Work Regional Park:  Could this be a leafhopper nymph?  I found it hiding in some bark and shedding its waxy posterior protrusions.   Jeremy Tatum responds:  I can’t say that I know  for sure, but I certainly can’t think of a better suggestion!

Probably leafhopper nymph (Hem.: Cicadellidae)   Mr E

2021 May 10

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  We showed eggs and young caterpillars of the Eglantine Sheep Moth on April 4, 5, 18, 22.  Here is one of the caterpillars grown a little more.  It is not nearly full grown yet.

Eglantine Sheep Moth Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Val George writes:  Spring has really sprung.  This morning, May 10, whilst birding along the power line crossing Prospect Lake Road, I saw an abundance of butterflies:  Many (two to three dozen) Western Spring Azures, two Sara Orangetips, one Cabbage White, one Propertius Duskywing, one  Comma, and one Western Tiger Swallowtail.

Propertius Duskywing Erynnis propertius (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Val George

Comma Polygonia sp. (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Val George

2021 May 9

   Sid and Rosemary Jorna have been photographing spiders in their Kemp Lake property – and Dr Robb  Bennett has identified them for us.  Of the first one, Dr Bennett writes:  This is the introduced species Dysdera crocata, which the British call the slater slayer because of its taste for woodlice.

Dysdera crocata (Ara.:  Dysderidae)  Sid Jorna

Philodromus rufus (Ara.: Philodromidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Jochen Möhr writes that he had no moths at all at his home in Metchosin this morning, but he had a pretty Buprestis aurulenta.

Buprestis aurulenta (Col.: Buprestidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum supposes that the Stinging Nettle developed its stings to discourage animals feeding on it.  If so, it wasn’t entirely successful, for there are many butterfly and moth caterpillars, as well as small beetles, that feed on nettles.  Here is a caterpillar that I found on Stinging Nettle earlier this year, near Blenkinsop Lake.  Its translucent appearance suggested to me that it might be a crambid.

Udea profundalis (Lep.: Crambidae)   Jeremy Tatum

   The adult moth emerged today, and I released it near where the caterpillar was found

Udea profundalis (Lep.: Crambidae)   Jeremy Tatum

   Here is another ordinary-looking green nettle-eating caterpillar.  It could be any of dozens of species, and is doubless impossible to identify.  But wait!  The caterpillar is far from ordinary. What special feature is apparent on this caterpillar that tells us that it is a species of Hypena?   It case you don’t spot it, I’ll post the answer in a few days.

Hypena californica  (Lep.:  Erebidae – Hypeninae)  Jeremy Tatum

2021 May 8

   Jochen Möhr sends a photograph of a moth from Metchosin, May 7:

Litholomia napaea (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Jochen Möhr

   Rosemary Jorna sends one from Playfair Park, Victoria.  This one proved a bit tricky, but Libby Avis and Jeremy Gatten both agree upon Annaphila decia – a first for this site.

 Annaphila decia (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Rosemary Jorna

Elisabeth Ruiter found this caterpillar munching in her apple tree in Cowichan:

Lorquin’s Admiral Limenitis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Elisabeth Ruiter

Jochen reports a rather worn Smerinthus ophthalmica  from Metchosin:

Smerinthus ophthalmica (Lep.: Sphingidae)