2021 September 20

   Black Witch!    Today the local bird hotline  https://groups.io/g/bcvibirds/topic/85753993  reports a Black Witch  discovered and photographed on September 19 by Klaus Emmaneel  behind the Cedar Hill ballbark.  I hope the bird hotline and the observer will not mind my taking the photograph from that site and re-posting it here.  This gigantic tropical noctuoid moth is a rarity anywhere in Canada.   In 2018 there were two records from Vancouver Island reported on this site.  A recently dead specimen was found right next to the Royal British Columbia Museum on 2018 August 28, and a living specimen was found in Port Alberni  on 2018 September 9.  See the Invert Alerts for 2018 September 10 and 13.

Black Witch Ascalapha odorata (Lep.: Erebidae – Erebinae)  Klaus Emmaneel

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Today I saw a female Purplish Copper  at the McIntyre Reservoir in Central Saanich.  There were still several Cabbage Whites in the surrounding fields.

2021 September 19

    Jeff Gaskin writes that Kirsten Mills found a late Lorquin’s Admiral in Uplands Park near Dorset Avenue on September 18, or the area where a Magnolia Warbler was seen earlier in the day.

Jeremy Tatum asks:   What is that “stuff” at the top of a dead grass stem found in Uplands Park today?

Stuff

Well, let’s have a closer look:

Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

2021 September 17

    September Butterfly Count

   Message from Gordon Hart

 Hello, Butterfly Enthusiasts ,

The September count period starts Saturday, September 18 until Sunday, September 26. This is an informal census of butterfly numbers and species in Greater Victoria. The area is defined by the Christmas Bird Count circle, extending from Victoria to Brentwood Bay and Island View Road in Central Saanich, and west to Happy Valley and Triangle Mountain, and Langford Lake and Goldstream areas. 

You can submit a count any time over the count period, just use a separate form for each count and location. In the case of repeat or duplicate counts, I will use the higher numbers. To submit counts, please use the form on the VNHS website at: https://www.vicnhs.bc.ca/?p=33

If you have difficulty with the form, please send me an email with the information.

There are not many butterflies around now, but there is a chance of some interesting sightings. This past week American Lady and Grey Hairstreak have been reported.

Thank-you for submitting your sightings and good luck with your count.

 Gordon Hart,

Butterfly Count Coordinator,

Victoria Natural History Society

    Jeremy Tatum writes:   Today is a rainy day, and as of 3:40 pm no reports or photos of invertebrates have been received.   If you have any to submit later today, send them in as usual – though they probably won’t be posted until tomorrow.

2021 September 16

    Aziza Cooper writes:  On September 14, this moth was on my garage, in Salsbury Way.

Coryphista meadii (Lep.: Geometridae)   Aziza Cooper

   Val George writes:  Yesterday, September 15, I checked for moths on the walls around the lights at the nature centre in Goldstream Park.  Results:

2 Neoalcis californiaria, 1 Noctua pronuba, 2 Plemyria georgii

Plemyria georgii (Lep.: Geometridae)   Val George

   Gordon Hart sends a photograph of a bee fly, probably Villa sp. from the Highlands.

Villa sp. (Dip.: Bombyliidae)  Gordon Hart

   Aziza Cooper reports that on September 15 she saw one Pine White at Aylard Farm in East Sooke Park.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  This morning (September 16) I was looking at the flowers in the garden department of Canadian Tire at Hillside Shopping Mall on Hillside Avenue.  Among all the other plants was a small pot with a decorative cabbage in it, and a Cabbage White was ovipositing on it. I was tempted to buy the plant, but I had someone with me so I moved on.

2021 September 16

    Aziza Cooper sends a photograph of a moth that was at her garage light on Salsbury Way on September 13.   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I had no idea what it was, so I sent the photograph  to Libby Avis, and, to my surprise she returned with the news that it is a colour variety of Neoalcis californiaria.  We haven’t had one quite like this in Invert Alert before, but Libby sees them often at Port Alberni.

Neoalcis californiaria  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Aziza Cooper

   Corrigendum:   I had incorrectly labelled a fly in yesterday’s Alert as a syrphid.  Thanks to Jeremy Gatten for giving us the correct identification.  See yesterday’s Alert for the correction.