2018 November 28

   Kirsten Mills sends a photograph of a Winter Moth  from her apartment near the Hillside Mall.

Winter Moth Operophtera brumata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Kirsten Mills

2018 November 21

   Victoria West sends a photograph of Emmelina monodactyla.  This is one of those pterophorid moths that we, as well as enthusiasts on the Sussex butterfly website, have independently noticed closely resembles the pre-WWI German monoplane the Rumpler Taube.   See

 https://www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/sightings/   for 19 and 20 November.  The larval foodplant of this species is the flowers of Calystegia.

Emmelina monodactyla (Lep.: Pterophoridae)  Victoria West

2018 November 20

   Jochen Möhr writes:  A couple of dragonflies joined me on November 18 in my boat while I was fishing on Poirier Lake in Sooke.   Thanks to Dr Rob Cannings for identifying them as the late-flying  Yellow-legged Meadowhawk.

Yellow-legged Meadowhawk Sympetrum vicinum (Odo.: Libellulidae) 

 Jochen Möhr

2018 November 18

   Jochen Möhr  writes from Metchosin:   Some of my Kale plants are fairly eaten up.  During the day, I never found a caterpillar, but now, finally, I decided to go out in the dark and found indeed nine caterpillars.  They must be hiding in the soil during the day.

  Jeremy Tatum writes:   These are the European Large Yellow Underwing Moth Noctua pronuba.  They do indeed hide in the soil during the day, and come up to feed at night.  They can be found in almost any month of the year.

Large Yellow Underwing  Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Large Yellow Underwing  Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum adds:  I saw two Banded Woolly Bears Pyrrharctia isabella enjoying the sun at Tod Creek Flats this afternoon.

2018 November 16

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I visited Goldstream Park Nature House this morning.  There were dozens of Winter Moths there, but as far as I could see they were all Operophtera brumata.  I didn’t see any that I thought were O. bruceata.  I wonder if they have a different flight period, because I know I have seen them there before.  The only other moths I saw there were a Triphosa haesitata (American Tissue Moth), which was too high up to photograph, and the moth below.  The question is:  What is it?  It is certainly Erannis sp., and it is not E. tiliaria.  Is it the European E. defoliaria (which I think it is!), or is it E. vancouverensis?   Are these two really distinct species?  If so, which is the one we get here?  Is there really such an animal as E. vancouverensis?  For safely, I’ll just label it Erannis sp.  (even though I think it’s defoliaria!).

Erannis sp.  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum