July 30

   Jeff Gaskin writes:   The VNHS trip to Mount Washington and Paradise Meadows yesterday produced the following highlights  :   2 Boisduval’s Blues, 40 – 50 Anna’s Blues, 4 Cabbage Whites, up to 10 Western Meadow Fritillaries, up to 20 Hydaspe Fritillaries, 1 Western Tiger Swallowtail.  Val George and Gordon Hart observed 2 Woodland Skippers, and 2 Branded Skippers that the rest of the group missed.  So a total of 8 species were tallied making for a fun and enjoyable trip.

   Here are some photographs from the trip by Val George and Gordon Hart:

Mariposa Copper Lycaena mariposa (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Val George

Anna’s Blue Lycaeides anna (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Val George

Hydaspe Fritillary Speyeria hydaspe (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Val George

Common Branded Skipper  Hesperia comma (Lep.: Hesperiidae)   Gordon Hart

    Jeremy Tatum writes:  Now that Hesperia skippers have started to appear at Cordova Spit, it would be interesting to get some photographs of them to compare with the Hesperia skippers on Mount Washington.  Some authorities would recognize two distinct species, the skippers on Mount Washington being Hesperia comma and the ones on Cordova Spit being Hesperia colorado. For the time being on this site I am listing both populations under Hesperia comma.

   The 2017 Butterfly Report for this site was posted on 2018 January 1, currently on page 36.  (This page number will increase with time.)  It shows that Hesperia Skippers were seen at Cordova Spit from August 1 – 7.  The first sighting this year was on July 28.

July 28

   Cheryl Hoyle sends a picture of a grasshopper from View Royal, July 26.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  I know little about grasshoppers, but I’m fairly sure that this is Melanoplus femurrubrum.

Melanoplus femurrubrum (Orth.: Acrididae)   Cheryl Hoyle

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Today I saw an Anise Swallowtail nectaring on the teasels at McIntyre Reservoir, Central Saanich.   Most of the large teasels at the south end of the reservoir have finished flowering.  However, the smaller teasels at the north end of the reservoir are now in full flower and should be attractive to butterflies.

  I walked from Island View Beach parking lot to Cordova (Saanichton) Spit this afternoon.  In the grassy fields just inland from the beach were a number of skippers – both Woodland and Essex.  I’m not sure which were the more numerous of the two, but I was surprised to see so many Essex this late in the season.  At the start of Cordova Spit were lots of Woodland Skippers and one Branded Skipper nectaring on the Gumweed.  This was at the side of the gravel trail, just where we saw them last year.  [In this site I am treating the so-called “Western” Branded Skipper as a race or subspecies of Hesperia comma, until the caterpillars are found to see just how different the two forms are.]   Also seen were a Purplish Copper on the way to Cordova Spit, and a “Ringlet” = Large Heath on the spit.

   Doug Cary writes:  I’m trying to identify a caterpillar observed in Uplands Park today and hope you can assist. We came across six of these in different locations during a walk this morning. They were approximately 5 cm in length and all were on the ground.   Jeremy Tatum replies:  It is the Sheep Moth.  They have finished feeding (on Ocean Spray or Snowberry) and are searching for somewhere to pupate.  These caterpillars can give you a rash if handled.

Sheep Moth Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae)  Doug Carey

   Devon Parker writes:   On July 22 I observed 15+ Western Bumblebees at Butchart Gardens in the perennial border next to the concert lawn. Most of them were nectaring on the white and purple Veronica. On July 28 I observed 3 Western Bumblebees at Royal Roads in the walled Garden nectaring on Globe Thistle and Goldenrod.

Western Bumblebee Bombus occidentalis (Hym.: Apidae)  Devon Parker

July 27

   Gordon Hart sends a picture of Sphinx perelegans from his Highlands garden:

Sphinx perelegans (Lep.: Sphingidae)  Gordon Hart

   Ann Nightingale sends pictures of an interesting catch in a mist net at the Rocky Point Bird Observatory bird-banding station.  This is one of the giant sawflies (Cimbicidae), which Ann correctly identifies (of course!)  as the Elm Sawfliy, Cimbex americana.   

Giant Elm Sawfly Cimbex americana (Hym.: Cimbicidae)  Ann Nightingale

Giant Elm Sawfly Cimbex americana (Hym.: Cimbicidae)  Ann Nightingale

   Annie Pang reared a Mouse From Gorge Park Gardens.  She fed it successfully on lettuce until it pupated, and today the adult Mouse Moth emerged and posed for photographs.   The Mouse Moth is not only mouse-coloured, but it will often scuttle around like Mus musculus rather than take flight.

The Mouse Amphipyra tragopoginis (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Annie Pang

The Mouse Amphipyra tragopoginis (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Annie Pang

   Zeke Gilmore spotted a rather uncommon skipper, identified by Norbert Kondla as a male Dun Skipper, in Upper Lantzville today, and got his Dad to photograph it.   A valuable record of a species that is officially “At Risk”.

Male Dun Skipper Euphyes vestris (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Scott Gilmore

   Annie Pang sends pictures of a male and a female Pine White.

Male Pine White Neophasia menapia (Lep.: Pieridae)  Annie Pang

Female Pine White Neophasia menapia (Lep.: Pieridae)  Annie Pang

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  That’s all I can manage today!  Others as soon as we can identify them.

July 26

    Re the mites on geometrid moths, as shown on July 22 and 25, I am told that “Erythraeids, particularly members of the subfamily Leptinae,  quite commonly parasitize Lepidoptera, but not with any obvious host specificity. This is probably an erythraeid based on its being bright red.  But don’t quote me!”

   -so I shan’t say who it is, other than what the press would call a “usually reliable source”!

    Gordon Hart sends a picture of a Scallop Shell Moth from the Highlands.

Scallop Shell Rheumaptera undulata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Gordon Hart

      Jochen Möhr sends a picture of Tolype distincta from Metchosin.

Tolype distincta (Lep.: Lasiocampidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jochen also writes:  Woodland Skippers have been around here for a few days now.  Today was the first time I managed to get a picture.

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Jochen Möhr

July 25 afternoon

   Ron Flower reports that he saw no fewer than five Anise Swallowtails at McIntyre reservoir yesterday, July 24.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  Apologies for not posting that immediately – I wondered if it was a typing mistake, but it wasn’t!   They really were Anises.   I went there this afternoon, July 25, where I saw a female Purplish Copper.

  On July 22, we showed a photograph by Jochen Möhr of a geometrid moth with a mite on it.  Just two days later David Harris (who visited Victoria in June) sent me a similar photograph of another geometrid moth, in England, also carrying a mite.  The moth, having been photographed in England, is even more illegal on this site than Jody’s trout, but I slip it in here just for interest, and for comparison with Jochen’s.

Scopula marginepunctata (Lep.: Geometridae)   David Harris