2017 May 5

   Mike Yip writes from Nanoose Bay:  I would like to compile a list of butterfly friendly garden flowers so I’m hoping you will post a note asking the invert folks to send me a list of their garden flowers and the butterflies that like nectaring on them. If you like I can send you the list to publish later in the summer. My email is mikyip AT hotmail DOT com.  Mike also sends a photograph of a moth, Behrensia conchiformis, that he found when he was cutting some alder firewood.  B. conchiformis is remarkable in that a freshly emerged specimen shines, when illuminated in  sunlight at the right angle, with brilliant, sparkling bright green areas.  The caterpillar, too is quite distinctive.  It feeds on the leaves of Snowberry, and it rests by stretching itself fully elongated and closely appressed to a twig, so that it is very difficult to detect.

Behrensia conchiformis (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Mike Yip

2017 May 4

May 4^th be with you.

May Butterfly Walk

Gordon Hart

Hello Butterfly Enthusiasts,
The second walk of 2017 will take place this Sunday, May 7, starting from the top of Mount Tolmie. We meet by the reservoir opposite the summit parking lot at 1:00 p.m. You can park there or in the big parking lot on the north side of the summit. After a look around the summit, we will decide on a destination at that time. We will car-pool from there and likely be back by 3.30.
As always, the walk is weather-dependent, although the forecast at this point looks good.
See you on Sunday,
Gordon

  Jochen Moehr sends a photograph of a caterpillar of the Large Yellow Underwing moth, feeding on Curled Dock in Metchosin, May 3.

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

       Gordon Hart writes: The sun today brought out a few butterflies in our Highlands yard: Sara Orangetip – 1, Cabbage White-1, Satyr Comma – 1, Painted Lady -1, and Western Spring Azure – several, at least three.   The comma and Painted Lady were quite faded, so have been around for a while- I saw the comma earlier this week briefly.

       Jeremy Tatum writes:  Aerial spraying for Gypsy Moth Lymantria dispar (Lep.: Erebidae – Lymantriinae)  is scheduled for Elk Lake/Bear Hill Regional Park, Monday May 15, 5:00 am to 7:30 pm.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I saw a Propertius Duskywing at the top of Mount Tolmie this afternoon.  After that, I went to Beaver Lake and to Beaver Lake Ponds, the heart of the Gypsy Moth infestation, but I didn’t find any dispar in any of its stages.  The only butterfly I saw there in 1.5 hours was a single Western Spring Azure.

   Annie Pang sends a photograph of a bee, kindly identified by Cory Sheffield as a female Andrena sp. (probably sola).

Andrena sp. (probably sola) (Hym.: Andrenidae)  Annie Pang

   Mike McGrenere writes: I was on Mount Douglas this morning and, while birding, I noticed many butterflies. I saw about 7 Sara Orangetips, two Propertius Duskywings, one Cabbage White and one Western Spring Azure. I also saw a Sara Orangetip along Lohbrunner Road, between Blenkinsop Road and Lochside Drive. This is the first time that I have seen one in that area that was not on Mount Douglas.  [Jeremy Tatum comments:  The preferred larval foodplant of sara is Tower Mustard Arabis glabra, which grows on Mount Douglas, but not, I think, in the Blenkinsop Valley.]

2017 May 3

    Jeremy Tatum writes: On April 26 Ian Cruickshank sent some photographs of various flies at Green Point, Pacific Rim National Park.  One of them was a species of Sericomyia (Dip.: Syrphidae)  (See April 27 evening posting), but we haven’t yet managed to identify the others.  We post them here in the hope that some learned viewer out there might be able to identify them for us at least to Family.  Email us at:      jtatum at uvic dot ca    

   We occasionally appeal to knowledgeable viewers to identify animals for us, though we don’t often get any response.  Perhaps I should take the advice of the moderator of the Sussex (England) butterfly site   www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/sightings/    who suggests that if we were to declare an insect as something it is not, this is certain to provoke a rapid response!   I don’t think I’ll resort to this cunning strategy just yet, but it sounds like a good idea.  In the meantime, if anyone out there can identify any of Ian’s flies, we really, really would like to hear from you.

Fly 1 (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Ian Cruickshank

Fly 4 (Diptera)   Ian Cruickshank

 Fly 5 (Diptera)   Ian Cruickshank

Fly 6 (Diptera)   Ian Cruickshank

Fly 7 (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Ian Cruickshank

Fly 8  (Diptera)  Ian Cruickshank

   We have received the following notice that may interest viewers. 

   Annie Pang sends a photograph of a Western Spring Azure from April 24.

Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Annie Pang

2017 May 2

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Last September, Gordon Hart found two (different) demonstration-size caterpillars within a few minutes and a few feet of each other in his Highlands garden.  One of them was Cerisy’s Eyed Hawk Moth.  The caterpillar can be seen on this site for the date 2016 September 16, and the pupa on September 26.  The adult moth ecloded (emerged) today, and is seen below.  Below that is a Cabbage White – also emerged from its chrysalis today.

  An interesting tidbit of information about Smerinthus and its near relatives in the Tribe Smerinthini:-  One often thinks of a hawk moth as having a very long proboscis (haustellum).  After all, did not Darwin successfully predict the existence of a moth with an exceptionally long haustellum capable of sucking nectar from a Madagascar orchid with an unusually deep nectary – and such a hawk moth was identified 150 years later?

It is true that many hawk moths do have a long proboscis – but the smerinthines have no functional proboscis, and the adult moth does not feed.

Female Cerisy’s Eyed Hawk Moth Smerinthus cerisyi (Lep.: Sphingidae)  Jeremy Tatum

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

   Nathan Fisk writes:  What a find!   Top of Seymour Hill in Thetis Lake Park. Afternoon of the May 2.   Nectaring on the Spring Gold patches between Scotch Broom.:

 Grey Hairstreak Strymon melinus (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Nathan Fisk

2017 May 1

   Ken Vaughan photographed a cuckoo bee Nomada sp. yesterday.  Thanks to Sean McCann for the identification.

Cuckoo bee Nomada sp. (Hym.: Apidae – Nomadinae)  Ken Vaughan

   Jeremy Tatum and Bill Savale spent a couple of hours yesterday along the hydro right of way next to Spectacle Lake -usually a prime butterfly location, but we didn’t see a single butterfly.  Jeremy photographed the spider below, identified by Robb Bennett as Araniella displicata.

Araniella displicata (Ara.: Araneidae)   Jeremy Tatum