July 9 evening

    Gordon Hart writes that he saw a California Tortoiseshell in his yard yesterday, Sunday July 8. He saw it through binoculars but could not get close enough for a photo. It was flying around California Lilac (Ceanothus).  This is exciting, since Ceanothus is the larval foodplant.  Had there been caterpillars on Gordon’s Ceanothus?   Or was the butterfly contemplating laying eggs on it?

   Annie Pang sends a picture of a spider seen on June 22.  Thanks to Rob Bennett, who writes:  It’s a theridiid, I think most likely Enoplognatha ovata.  They come in a variety of colour/patterning morphs – watch for ones with some amount of red striping on their abdomens.

Probably Enoplognatha ovata (Ara.: Theridiidae)  Annie Pang

More of Jochen Möhr’s moth photographs from Metchosin .   Thanks to Libby Avis for identification.

Mythimna or Leucania sp. (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Bellura obliqua (Lep.:  Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Panthea virginarius (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Smerinthus cerisyi (Lep.: Sphingidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Some recent authors list the West Coast form of this hawk moth under Smerinthus ophthalmica.   To change the captions on all the photographs on this site and all the Index entries would be a formidable task, against which must be asked how convincing is the split at species level?  While there may be small discernible differences between disjunct populations of the species, are these differences significant enough to bestow upon them species status, rather than subspecies?  Indeed, are our moths significantly different at the species level from the European Smerinthus ocellata?  Professor Joad might have remarked: “It all depends on what you mean by species”   – a remark very pertinent in light of the several types of “species concept” currently in vogue. For consistency within this site (and to avoid a huge amount of perhaps unnecessary work) I am retaining the name S. cerisyi here.

   We often think of a typical hawk moth as a moth with an immensely long haustellum (proboscis).  After all, did not Darwin predict the existence of a hawk moth with a very long proboscis before its actual discovery?   Interestingly, hawk moths of the tribe Smerinthini have no functional haustellum at all, and do not feed as adults.

June 9 morning

   Gordon Hart writes:  On my birthday, Thursday July 5, Anne-Marie and I drove to Cowichan Station, our first visit there. We saw 8-10 whites but they would not land. Finally, two sat long enough to confirm Margined Whites. The usual other species were present as well: Essex Skippers, Lorquin’s Admirals and Western Tiger Swallowtails . I have attached a photo of a female Common Whitetail, Plathemis lydia, and a Margined White.   [That sounds like a pretty good birthday!   Jeremy]

Common Whitetail Plathemis lydia (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Gordon Hart

Margined White Pieris marginalis (Lep.: Pieridae)  Gordon Hart

   Cheryl Hoyle sends photographs of a beetle and a snail from East Saanich, July 8.

Golden Jewel Beetle Buprestis aurulenta (Col.: Buprestidae) Cheryl Hoyle

Cepaea nemoralis (Pul.: Helicidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

   More of Jochen Möhr’s moth photographs from Metchosin .   Thanks to Libby Avis for identification.

Acronicta dactylina (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Acronicta dactylina (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Properigea albimacula (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Mythimna or Leucania sp. (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Pero mizon (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

July 8 evening

   Gordon Hart sends two photographs of a digger wasp  (thread-waisted wasp) from Pike Lake Substation, July 6.  This is believed to be a predator of grasshoppers.

Digger wasp  Prionyx canadensis (Hym.: Sphecidae)   Gordon Hart

Digger wasp  Prionyx canadensis (Hym.: Sphecidae)   Gordon Hart

   More moths from Metchosin, photographed by Jochen Möhr; identified by Libby Avis.

Gabriola dyari (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Möhr

Raphia frater (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Iridopsis larvaria/emasculatum  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

   More tomorrow…

July 8 morning

   Here are more moths from Metchosin, photographed by Jochen Möhr and identified by Libby Avis.

Eulithis xylina (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Perizoma costiguttata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Iridopsis larvaria/emasculatum (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Möhr

Acronicta dactylina (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

Lacinipolia cuneata (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Lacinipolia patalis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum writes:   Here is one of several weevils I noted on thistles at Rithet’s Bog yesterday (July 7).  Charlene Wood writes:  It is a “Thistle Head Weevil” Rhinocyllus conicus, which was introduced in the late 1960s as a biocontrol agent on musk/nodding thistle.  It’s well established in North America and also attacks native Cirsium spp.  It’s blackish-brown with tufts of yellow hair that fall out as the beetle ages. The snout is short and broad.

Rhynocyllus conicus (Col.: Curculionidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   More this evening…

June 7

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I managed to get a close-up of the Pyrausta californicalis caterpillar that Val found in his garden yesterday:

Pyrausta californicalis (Lep.: Crambidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Also, a couple of caterpillars that I found on cottonwood at Rithet’s Bog today:

Nycteola sp. (Lep.: Nolidae)   Jeremy Tatum

   Jeff Gaskin writes:  Last Tuesday,  July 03, Kirsten Mills and I drove along Nanaimo River Road;  between kms 9 and 14 we saw at least 8 Clodius Parnassians and 1 Grey Hairstreak.  Also, there we saw many Lorquin’s Admirals, Western Tiger Swallowtails, and some Pale Tiger Swallowtails.

  Jochen Möhr sends photographs of three Lacinipolia strigicollis  from Metchosin.  Thanks to Libby Avis for identification.  One might guess that the bluer individuals are fresher – though the one without blue seems to be in very good condition, so maybe we need to guess again.

Lacinipolia strigicollis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Lacinipolia strigicollis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

Lacinipolia strigicollis (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Möhr

   Jeremy Tatum writes that at 6:45 pm this evening there was a Painted Lady on the Mount Tolmie reservoir, and three more near the Jeffery Pine.

   More tomorrow – we have a backlog, which is a nice thing to have.