2017 September 22 morning

Happy Equinox, Everyone!

   Here’s another moth from Metchosin, photographed by Jochen Moehr and identified for us by Libby Avis. 

Dryotype opina (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

   And now Libby sends some photographs herself from Port Alberni.

Xylena curvimacula (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

Lithomoia germana (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Libby Avis

Philedia punctomacularia (Lep.: Geometridae)  Libby Avis

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  The Notodontidae (“prominents”) is a family of moths, many of which have extraordinary caterpillars.  One was shown on September 20.  Here’s another:

Schizura unicornis (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Marie O’Shaughnessy writes that there were at least three Painted Ladies on Whiffin Spit yesterday.  Here is one of them.

Painted Lady  Vanessa cardui (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Painted Lady  Vanessa cardui (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

2017 September 21

   Barb McGrenere found a caterpillar of the Girdler Moth Dargida procinctus in the Cordova Bay area.

Girdler Moth Dargida procintus (Lep.: Noctuidae)

Barb MGrenere

   Jeff Gaskin writes:  I’ve been seeing a fair number of Painted Ladies lately.  Especially today, in fact in Beacon Hill Park I saw five, and in the Cecilia Ravine Park there were two.

   Some more moths from Metchosin, sent by Jochen Moehr:

Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

Xanthorhoe defensaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Jochen Moehr

Orgyia pseudotsugata (Lep.: Erebidae – Lymantriinae)  Jochen Moehr

More photographs and observations tomorrow!

2017 September 20

Sorry – no posting yesterday (September 19).

Today we have two syrphid flies, and we are grateful to Jeff Skevington and Andrew Young for their identification.  The first one, perched on an anemone, was photographed by Jochen Moehr in Metchosin.

Meliscaeva cinctella (Dip.: Syrphidae) Jochen Moehr

   The second one was photographed on Pender Island in July by Ren Ferguson

Polydontomyia curvipes (Dip.: Syrphidae) Ren Ferguson

The spider below was photographed yesterday by Rosemary Jorna in the Kemp Lake area of Otter Point.  We are grateful to Robb Bennett for identifying it for us as a fenmale Araneus saevus  or Araneus nordmanni.  Its head is hidden by its massive abdomen.

Araneus saevus/nordmanni (Ara.: Araneidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Araneus saevus/nordmanni (Ara.: Araneidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   Jeremy Tatum shows a caterpillar of Pheosia rimosa  on an Aspen leaf from Munn Road.

Pheosia rimosa (Lep.: Notodontidae) Jeremy Tatum

2017 September 18

   Jochen Moehr sends a photograph of a beetle from his property in Metchosin.  Thanks for Charlene Wood, who writes:  Most beetles have 11 antennal segments, but more important to family ID are the tarsal segments on all three sets of legs. Luckily, this photo gives another clue that is helpful in this case – the maxillary palp is triangular in shape, which ruled out the similar shaped Ground Beetles and leads me to the family Tenebrionidae (Darkling Beetles). Tentatively, it looks to be in the genus Helops. Five species range into SW Canada. 

Probably Helops sp. (Col.: Tenebrionidae) Jochen Moehr

   Jochen also sends photographs of more moths and a caddisfly from Metchosin.  Thanks for Libby Avis for doing the identifications.  Some of the moths in the Agrochola/Sunira group can be a challenge to identify.  Jochen’s moth is either Sunira decipiens or S. bicolorago, and, from the ranges of these two species, it is most likely decipiens.

Sunira decipiens (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

Of the next one, Libby writes:  This one is in what PNWM refers to as the “Xestia finatimis species group”. Four very similar species, three of them (finatimis, infimatis & verniloides) very hard to distinguish even when they aren’t faded. This one looks to me like possibly finatimis or verniloides,  but I wouldn’t care to make a bet on it!

Xestia sp. (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

Autographa californica (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jochen Moehr

   Next:  Tetracis probably pallulata (jubararia is the other option for the fall). Used to be that pallulata was considered to be the one with darker median lines, closer together which this one has. However,  but I read a paper on them a while ago which seemed to cast doubt on the whole thing – nothing ever seems to be simple anymore!

Tetracis (probably pallulata) (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jochen Moehr

   Of the caddisfly, Libby writes:  We get a lot of caddises at the moth light and I got a bunch of them ID’d by BOLD a few years ago. This one looks like a pretty good match for one of ours which was confirmed as Lenarchus rho photo attached) but there are also other Lenarchus species which are similar and I’m not that confident on how far you can go on these visually.

Caddisfly Lenarchus (maybe rho) (Tri.: Limnephilidae)

Jochen Moehr

2017 September 17

   Mike McGrenere sends a second photograph of the American Lady that he found at McIntyre reservoir on September 10.  This photograph allows a clearer view of the underside.  This is a rarity here, and indeed in British Columbia, although it is the second report we have heard of on Vancouver Island this year.  One was photographed by Martin Dollenkamp from Black Creek on August 8. (See the posting for August 11.)  On 2015 August 26 one was photographed at Ucluelet by a visitor from the UK, Patrick Moore, and was shown on the Sussex (England) butterfly website

www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/sightings/

specifically at    http://www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/old%20sightings/nov-dec2015.html

American Lady Vanessa virginiensis (Lep.: Nymphalidae)

Mike McGrenere

   There are still a few Painted Ladies around – Anne-Marie Hart spotted a fresh one nectaring on a Buddleia bush in their Highlands garden yesterday.

Libby Avis tells us that she is still seeing lots of Nepytia phantasmaria (see yesterday’s posting) in Port Alberni –  15 of them last night!

Janet Renouf sends a photograph of a green caterpillar from under an oak tree.  It is a Rough Prominent Nadata gibbosa, and it looks as if it is just about to pupate at any moment.  Unfortunately it seems to have had some sort of a mishap, because it usually spins a tough cocoon in which to pupate, and, without its cocoon, I don’t rate its chances of survival greatly.

Nadata gibbosa (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Janet Renouf

   Gordon Hart sends photographs of damselflies from the Beaver Lake retriever ponds, September 15.  We are grateful to Rob Cannings for the identifications.  Rob writes: The first is a Lestes male. Unfortunately, the tip of the abdomen is out of focus, which makes identification tricky from the dorsal view. The two species common here in September are L. disjunctus and L. congener and, based on this and certain characters, it’s one of those. I’m afraid I can’t really tell.   The second is a female Enallagma carunculatum. Eighth abdominal segment is all black on top.

Spreadwing Lestes disjunctus/congener (Odo.:  Lestidae)  Gordon Hart

Female Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)

Gordon Hart