2017 September 11

   Jeremy Tatum sends photographs of some caterpillars.  The first from Ocean Spray at Mount Douglas.  The second from Rubus sp. in East Sooke Park, now feeding on willow.

Unicorn Prominent Schizura unicornis (Lep.: Notodontidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Peppered Moth Biston betularia (Lep.: Geometridae)

Jeremy Tatum

   The Zale caterpillar that has been shown on August 28 and 30, and September 2 and 7 is now pupating.  We have narrowed it down to Z. lunata or Z. minerea, probably the former.  Its ventral side is interesting:

Zale sp. (Lep.: Erebidae – Erebinae)  Jeremy Tatum

I went to McIntyre reservoir today.  There were still hundreds of Cabbage Whites in flight.  I also saw one (or more?) pristine Orange Sulphur and one (or more?) pristine Painted Lady.  The sulphur was a full, rich orange.  I didn’t see any of the paler sulphurs that we saw during the VNHS September Butterfly Walk.  It would be nice to get some good photographs of these.  Although we assumed that they were female Orange Sulphurs, I am not 100 per cent certain, and I am toying with the possibility that they may have been Clouded Sulphurs – a different species.  In any case today I had a look at the Brussels Sprouts plants to see if I could spot any caterpillars.  I found one caterpillar each of Cabbage Looper and Cabbage White Butterfly.  The adult Cabbage Looper is the Ni Moth.  The mark on the upperside of the forewing is supposed to resemble the Greek letter nu (n);  “Ni” is the Latinized form of Greek “nu”.   The Ni Moth is a plusiine (i.e. belongs to the Subfamily Plusiinae of the Family Noctuidae).  Most of the plusiine caterpillars don’t have the usual complement of abdominal prolegs (count them), and they walk in a semi-looper fashion.

Ni Moth Trichoplusia ni (Lep.: Noctuidae – Plusiinae)  Jeremy Tatum

Cabbage White Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae)   Jeremy Tatum

Message just received from Ron Flower, who, too, visited McIntyre reservoir today.  He writes:  Around noon at the reservoir we saw 2 Woodland Skippers, 6 Painted Ladies, 4 Orange Sulphurs, 2 Purplish Coppers, dozens of Cabbage Whites, and a new moth to us. There could have very well been more of each for they seemed to be everywhere.  [Jeremy Tatum writes:  I’m not very optimistic, but we’ll try and identify the moth.]

Painted Lady Vanessa cardui (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Ron Flower

 Orange Sulphur Colias eurytheme (Lep.: Pieridae)  Ron Flower

Male Purplish Copper  Lycaena helloides (Lep.:  Lycaenidae)  Ron Flower

Jeff Gaskin writes:  Yesterday, Sept. 10, there was a Painted Lady on a Buddleia bush along Gorge Road near Harriet Street.  Today there were no fewer than 6 Pine Whites in East Sooke Park between Aylard Farm and Beechey Head.

Gerry and Wendy Ansell write:  Of interest this afternoon (Monday, September 11) was 1 Grey Hairstreak at Panama Flats.   There were also several Woodland Skippers.

2017 September 10

   Val George writes:  This moth, Triphosa haesitata, was in my car port in Oak Bay yesterday, September 9.

Triphosa haesitata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Val George

   And Jeremy Tatum writes:  This moth, Noctua pronuba, was outside my back door in Saanich today, September 10.

Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Jeremy Tatum

   Nathan Fisk writes:  September 5, 2017,Wickaninnish Beach, Pacific Rim National Park. This one’s a bit out of our area but the patterning on the wings was so striking ‎I wanted to send it in. I have a faint memory of seeing something similar in Invert Alert before.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  What a good memory you have!  We have had Gazoryctra mathewi once before, 2013 September 8.  This is the only hepialid to appear so far on Invert Alert.    As for the area, while this site was originally intended to cover the Southern Vancouver Island Birdwatching Area, in practice we happily accept reports and photographs from the whole of Vancouver Island as long as we are not clashing with any similar website on the Island.  So, keep ’em coming!

Gazoryctra mathewi (Lep.: Hepialidae)  Nathan Fisk

   Hayley Datoo reports huge numbers of caterpillars all over the inside and outside of Huband Elementary School in Courtenay.  Huge clusters of them lining the base of the hallway wall.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  These are Mythimna unipuncta.  The caterpillars are known in agricultural circles as the Armyworm.  They eat grasses, including cereal crops.  Periodically there are huge outbreaks of them as they eat all their foodplants in the area, and armies of them search for new pastures.  The adult moth is known variously as the American Wainscot or the White-speck Moth.

Mythimna unipuncta (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Hayley Datoo

2017 September 9, 2017

   We apologize to viewers and contributors for a gap in items for a couple of days.  This was a result of a computer glitch.  We thank Adam Taylor for solving the problem, and we are now back in business.   I have posted September 7.  We have nothing for September 8, and just the one photograph below, by Bryan Gates, of a spectacular Acronicta dactylina caterpillar on an alder at his Black Creek home.

Acronicta dactylina (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Bryan Gates

2017 September 7

   Annie Pang sends a photograph of a Spotted Tiger Moth caterpillar, which she is going to rear.  We look forward to seeing the adult next spring.

Spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa maculata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)  Annie Pang

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I believe my Zale is now in its final instar:

Zale sp. (Lep.: Erebidae – Erebinae)  Jeremy Tatum

  Jeremy Tatum found two very common moths outside his back door today.  The first, Noctua pronuba, is a European native.  The second, Neoalcis californiaria, is very much a West Coast native, and it seems to have been particularly common and widespread this year.  The antennae of the one shown below are threadlike, and the moth is presumably a female.  Some other examples of this species seen on this site in recent days have had feathery, bipectinate antennae, and are presumably females.

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

2017 September 6

   Jochen Moehr sends a photograph of a grasshopper in Metchosin, September 3.  He writes that they are very common there, and one is rarely out of earshot of a performer.  Thanks to Claudia Copley for identifying it for us as a Crackling Forest Grasshopper Trimerotropis verruculata.

Trimerotropis verruculata (Orth.: Acrididae)  Jochen Moehr

   Val George writes:  Bryan Gates and I were on Mount Washington on September 4 checking out the banded Grey Jays when we saw this butterfly.  A tough identification, but I’m pretty sure it’s a Hoary Comma Polygonia gracilis. 

   Jeremy Tatum comments:  I am more than happy to label this as a Hoary Comma Polygonia gracilis.  As described on the August 28 posting, I am for the time being treating the forms gracilis, zephyrus and oreas as conspecific under the name gracilis.  Val’s photograph shows very well the “greenish yellow submarginal spots” described by Guppy and Shepard under the name zephyrus.  What is not clear is whether these spots are specific to the form zephyrus, or whether they may also occur in the other forms.

Hoary Comma Polygonia gracilis (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Val George

   Jeff Gaskin writes that there was a lone Lorquin’s Admiral on the Cedar Hill Golf Course today, September 6, at just about 9:15 a.m.  It was on the right hand side of the course just south of the club house.

  Jeremy Tatum writes that at the back door of his apartment this morning were 2 Neoalcis californiaria  and 1 Drepanulatrix monicaria – both out of camera reach, unfortunately.