2024 September 6

   Marie O’Shaughnesssy sends photographs of dragonflies seen in the Cowichan area, September 3.
Dragonflies seen were

1 Canada Darner
4 Blue-eyed Darners
4 Blue Dasher
2 Autumn Meadowhawks
1 Four-spotted  Skimmer
4 Paddle-tailed Darners
6 bluet damselflies 

Blue Dasher  Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor  (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Autumn Meadowhawk Sympetrum vicinum  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Canada Darner Aeshna canadensis  (Odo.:Aeshnidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Blue-eyed Darners  Rhionaeschna multicolor  (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Jeff Gaskin writes:    Today, September 6, out at Goldstream Park, Kirsten Mills and I saw 2 Paddle-tailed Darners and 1 Cardinal Meadowhawk.  Also, there were a few Cabbage Whites and 1 Woodland Skipper.

At Pedder Bay we were surprised to see such a large number of Common Green Darners.  In one small area there were at least 12 of them plus 2 or 3 more near the parking lot.  The only other dragonfly we saw was an Eight-spotted Skimmer.  Kirsten saw a Pine White when we were leaving along Rocky Point Road, near near Wild Arc.

Aziza Cooper writes:  Today, September 6, this fly was on a mushroom in Rainbow Park at Rainbow Road and McKenzie Avenue.

Greenbottle Lucilia sp.:  (Dip.:  Calliphoridae)   Aziza Cooper

2024 September 5

We start today with photographs (by Ian Cooper, along the  E&N & Galloping Goose Trails last night) of a magnificent insect.  Hard to believe, until you look at it carefully and critically, that this is a moth. And no, it doesn’t sting.  It belongs to the Family Sesiidae (clearwing moths).  Most of them are excellent at mimicking other insects; many of them, in particular, look very convincingly like Hymenoptera.  The caterpillar of this one is hard to find (unless you are a raspberry farmer) and it is known as the Raspberry Crown Borer.  The caterpillar lives inside the stalks and buds and even the roots of raspberries and blackberries.

Male Pennisetia marginatum  (Lep.: Sesiidae)  Ian Cooper

Female Pennisetia marginatum  (Lep.: Sesiidae)  Ian Cooper

Jeff Gaskin writes:  Today, September 5, in Esquimalt Gorge Park I saw a Black Saddlebags and at least two Paddle-tailed Darners.  The only butterflies I saw were Cabbage Whites.   (Jeremy Tatum writes:  There were still several Cabbage Whites today at Mount View Park, off Carey Road.)  Jeff and Kirsten Mills saw an Autumn Meadowhawk at Cowichan Station yesterday.

The moth below appeared at Jeremy Tatum’s apartment in Saanich this morning, September 5:

Apamea devastator  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Here are four more creatures from Ian’s work last night:

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

Unidentified (so far) micro moth (Lep.)  Ian Cooper

Camel Cricket,  Pristoceuthophilus celatus (Orth.: Rhaphidophoridae)  Ian Cooper

Anyphaena aperta (Ara.: Anyphaenidae)  Ian Cooper

Val George writes:  This Lesser Yellow Underwing Noctua comes was on the wall of my Oak Bay house this morning, September 5.

Lesser Yellow Underwing Noctua comes  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Val George

2024 September 4 evening

Aziza Cooper photographed the fly below on Mount Douglas in mid-August.  We are grateful to Dr Jeff Skevington, who has identified it as a species of bee fly (Bombyliidae) in the genus Villa.

 Bee fly  Villa sp. (Dip.: Bombyliidae)   Aziza Cooper

Aziza visited Island View Beach today, Septmber 4.  She writes that there were three Purplish Coppers, one California Ringlet, five Woodland Skippers and nine Cabbage Whites. An aeshnid dragonfly was perching vertically.  Dr Rob Cannings kindly identified the aeshnid as a male Shadow Darner.  Aziza sends the following photographs.

Female Purplish Copper Tharsalia helloides  (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Aziza Cooper

Purplish Copper Tharsalia helloides  (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  (Lateral view)   Aziza Cooper

California Ringlet Coenonympha california (Lep.: Nymphalidae – Satyrinae)  Aziza Cooper

Shadow Darner Aeshna umbrosa (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Aziza Cooper

2024 September 4 morning

Marie O’Shaughnessy photographed this exuvia at Esquimalt Lagoon, September 2.  Amazingly, Dr Rob Cannings managed to identify it.  He writes: This is Rhionaeschna multicolor. The width and length of its labium are measurable, so there is no doubt.

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor (Odo.: Aeshnidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Jeremy Tatum photographed the moth below at his Saanich apartment this morning.

Xestia xanthographa  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

2024 September 3

  Ian Cooper sends another selection of pictures from his Aug 31 photo shoot. He starts with two photographs of a Folding-door Spider, with door open, and door closed.

Folding-door spider – Antrodiaetus pacificus (Ara. – Myg.:  Antrodiaetidae) door open
Ian Cooper

Folding-door spider – Antrodiaetus pacificus (Ara. – Myg.:  Antrodiaetidae) door closed
Ian Cooper

Red Carpenter Ant – Camponotus vicinus (Hym.: Formicidae)  Ian Cooper

Western Black Carpenter Ant  Camponotus modoc (Hym.: Formicidae)  Ian Cooper

Pacific Dampwood Termite  Zootermopsis angusticollis (Bla.:  Archotermopsidae)  Ian Cooper

Cybaeus signifer (Ara.: Cybaeidae)  Ian Cooper

   Marie O’Shaughnessy writes:  I visited several places on September 1 and 2 looking for birds, dragonflies and butterflies. All I saw were Cabbage Whites – one at each of these places:
Cattle Point, Bowker Avenue, Outerbridge Park, McIntyre Reservoir, Esquimalt Lagoon, plus three more Cabbage Whites while I was driving along Blenkinsop Road. Dragonfly numbers are way down.

Outerbridge Park had 2 Paddletail Darners and 1 Cardinal Meadowhawk.

Paddle-tailed Darner Aeshna palmata (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Cardinal Meadowhawk   Sympetrum illotum  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Kirsten Mills writes on September 2:     Jeff Gaskin and I were at the ponds on Green Park Drive and saw a Cardinal Meadowhawk.  Photos were taken and also there were three Paddle-tailed Darners.  Green Park Drive is near Swartz Bay in North Saanich.

Cardinal Meadowhawk   Sympetrum illotum  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Cardinal Meadowhawk   Sympetrum illotum  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Judy Spearing sent this photograph on September 3 of a penultimate instar Yellow Woolly Bear on Fireweed in her garden near Bow Park.

Yellow Woolly Bear (Virginia Ermine or Virginia Tiger) Spilosoma virginica  (Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Judy Spearing

Jeremy Tatum sends a photograph of a moth, reared from a caterpillar found in the Spring by Ian Cooper and emerged as an adult today.  Thanks to Libby Avis for the identification.

Pleromelloida cinerea  (Lep.:  Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum