INVERTEBRATE ALERT
This blog provides an informal forum for terrestrial invertebrate watchers to post recent sightings of interesting observations in the southern Vancouver Island region. Please send your sightings by email to Jeremy Tatum (tatumjb352@gmail.com). Be sure to include your name, phone number, the species name (common or scientific) of the invertebrate you saw, location, date, and number of individuals. If you have a photograph you are willing to share, please send it along. Click on the title above for an index of past sightings.The index is updated most days.

2024 July 18 evening

2024 July 18 evening

Here’s another selection of recent photographs from Ian Cooper.  All photos were taken on July 17 by the #Galloping Goose Trail & *Colquitz River Park.

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

 

The next moth was a bit of a puzzler.  Although it appears to be in good condition, it has almost no obvious distinctive markings or pattern.  In spite of that, Libby Avis, Jeremy Tatum and Ian Cooper all came up with “Possibly or probably Noctua comes, but not certain.”  But, although individually uncertain, we all converged on to the same species, so I‘m happy to label it, writes Jeremy, as Noctua comes, without any qualifying uncertainty.

 

#Lesser Yellow Underwing Noctua comes  (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Ian Cooper

 

* Red ‘candy striped’ variant of Enoplognatha ovata (Ara.: Theridiidae)   Ian Cooper
I don’t see the red candy striped variant often, so I was glad to spot this one in Colquitz River Park.

 

* Enoplognatha ovata (Ara.: Theridiidae) with a male crane fly prey.
A somewhat difficult photo to capture because of the ‘busy’ background, but the sight of this small spider with a much larger prey was intriguing.

# Callobius sp. (probably pictus)  (Ara.: Amaurobiidae)  Ian Cooper
I’ve seen this spider hiding in its crevice residence on a conifer tree by the GG Trail previously. This time it was out in the open.

 

#Mayfly  (Ephemeroptera)   Ian Cooper

 

A lady beetle puzzle:   Ian Cooper photographed the first of these below in Vic West, and Sher Falls photographed the second (two photographs of the same individual) in Nanaimo.  These are Asian Lady Beetles Harmonia axyridis.  This lady beetle has many different forms, many of which don’t look at all like these ones.  Libby Avis tells us that the form conspicua is black with one red blotch on each elytron, so this may be Ian’s beetle.  The form spectabilis is black with two red blotches on each elytron, so this may be Sher’s.

Harmonia axyridis  (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Ian Cooper 

Harmonia axyridis  (Col.: Coccinellidae)  Sher Falls

 

Jeremy Tatum writes:  At 5:30 pm today there was a pristine fresh Anise Swallowtail resting with its wings fully open on the Oregon Grape (now Berberis, formerly Mahonia) just outside the entrance to the Mount Tolmie reservoir.  A brief overhead fly-by of a Lorquin’s Admiral was the only other butterfly I saw.

 

Val George writes:  This Eulithis xylina was on the wall of my Oak Bay house this morning, July 18

Northwestern Phoenix  Eulithis xylina  (Lep.: Geometridae)   Val George

2024 July 18 morning

2024 July 18 morning

On July 15, Marie O’Shaughnessy wrote:

I saw these dragonflies at Swan Lake:
48 Blue Dashers
4 Western Pondhawks
1 Common Green Darner
2 Blue-eyed Darners
3  Eight-spotted Spotted Skimmers
4  Black Saddlebags
2 Cardinal Meadowhawks
1  Four-spotted Skimmers 

 Marie sent these photographs:

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

Western Pondhawks  Erythemis collocata  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Black Saddlebags  Tramea lacerata  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Black Saddlebags  Tramea lacerata  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

 

A photograph of a lady beetle that was formerly here has been moved to 2024 July 18 evening.

 

The photograph below, taken at Jeremy Tatum’s Saanich apartment, is obviously a pug of the genus Eupithecia  – but beyond that I don’t think we can go.


Eupithecia sp. (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

2024 July 17

2024 July 17

   Jochen Möhr sends photographs of Macaria lorquinaria from Metchosin, almost a year to the day from when he sent another one of this species, and Spilosoma virginica.

 

Macaria loquinaria  (Lep.:  Geometridae)   Jochen Möhr)

 

Spilosoma virginica  (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Jochen Möhr


Spilosoma virginica  (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Jochen Möhr

 

Aziza Cooper writes: Here are two moths seen yesterday, July 16, at my home in Saanich

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

Large Tabby Aglossa pinguinalis  (Lep.: Pyralidae)  Aziza Cooper

  This moth is an unusually interesting one. It is a first for Invertebrate Alert, and was identified for us by Libby Avis.  Originally from Europe, it has long been found in North America.  Descriptions of its caterpillar on the Web vary slightly (I would think that not a huge number of people have seen, let alone reared, one), but it is supposed to occur in caves and sheds, and feed upon straw, chaff and animal dung.  Some sites say animal fat, and at least one says fat of cadavers.

2024 July 16

2024 July 16

   This harvestman was photographed by Ian Cooper a few days ago.  Not certain of exact species.

Harvestman (Opiliones)     Ian Cooper

 

Val George writes:  These two moths were on the wall of my Oak Bay house yesterday morning, July 15:

Idaea dimidiata  (Lep.: Geometridae)   Val George

Drepanulatrix secundaria / monicaria  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

 

Libby Avis sends a photograph of a moth that came to her moth light in Port Alberni on July 13.  This is a new one for Invertebrate Alert, and Libby has seen it in Port Alberni only twice before, in 2011 and 2018.

Setagrotis pallidicollis  (Lep.:  Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

 

Marie O’Shaughnessy was at Swan Lake at noon yesterday and found only  4 Lorquin’s Admirals, 1 Cabbage White, and 1 Western Tiger Swallowtail.  A quick stop by Mount Tolmie at 3.40 pm revealed one Pale Tiger Swallowtail, and one aggressive  Lorquin’s  Admiral  that went after the Pale every time it tried to perch.

Pale Tiger Swallowtail  Pterourus eurymedon  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Lorquin’s Admiral  Limenitis lorquini  (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Marie O’Shaughnessy

 

2024 July 15 evening

2024 July 15 evening

Ian Cooper took multiple photographs of a hymenopterous insect spotted on fennel growing near the E&N trail in Esquimalt on July 14.  From a successful search on the Web, Ian finds that it is a hymenopterous parasitoid in the Family Ichneumonidae,  Subfamily Triphoninae, Tribe Exenterini.

Ichneumon wasp (Hym.: Ichneumonidae – Tryphoninae – Exenterini)  Ian Cooper

Ichneumon wasp (Hym.: Ichneumonidae – Tryphoninae – Exenterini)  Ian Cooper

Ichneumon wasp (Hym.: Ichneumonidae – Tryphoninae – Exenterini)  Ian Cooper

 

I don’t know how to predict what sort of a night is likely to be a good moth night.   Some people can predict when, but I don’t know how often they are right.  There have not been many moths at the Swan Lake Nature House this year – but this morning, July 16, there was a goodly number of moths there.  Ten or so, all different.   Needless to say, I didn’t have my camera with me. Later, I took my camera and tripod to the Goldstream Nature House – there was not a single moth there.   On the way back, I stopped at Swan Lake, but by that time only a single moth (shown below) was within tripod reach.  I have never found the caterpillar – it is supposed to feed on lichens or algae (not sure which) on tree trunks.  Anyway, it might be fruitful for moth photographers to pay a visit to Swan Lake in the mornings in the next few days.

Clemensia umbrata  (Erebidae – Arctiinae – Lithosiini) Jeremy Tatum

 

Missing Butterflies: Still missing this year –  Purplish Copper,  Margined White, Pine White.  Aziza Cooper saw a Woodland Skipper at Cowichan Station on July 14.  That is within the area covered by the annual butterfly report that Jeremy Tatum compiles from Invert Alert, so it is not technically “missing”.  Yet that is still the only one reported from the area, and there have been none from immediately around Victoria.