2017 April 21

   Steven Roias sends a picture of a micro moth photographed on his front porch on April 24.  We believe it is either Epinotia emarginana or E. solandriana.  These two species are both very variable, and Steven’s moth could fit either.

 Epinotia emarginana/solandriana (Lep.: Tortricidae – Olethreutinae)  Steven Roias

   The rather unappealing creature below is the maggot of a tachinid fly, which came from a pupa of a Pale Tiger Swallowtail, whose caterpillar was found last fall by Devon Parker.   The butterfly caterpillar and pupa were shown on this site for 2016 September 8 and 16.

Tachinid fly maggot  (Dip.:  Tachinidae)   Jeremy Tatum

Butterflies are still scarce, and Rosemary Jorna reports that, as of yesterday (April 20), she has still to see her first butterfly of the year.

But today, April 21, the Sun is out and it is warm, so a few butterflies are at last out.  Devon Parker reports that from Bear Hill he saw 4 Sara Orangetips, 4 Moss’s Elfins, and 2 Western Spring Azures on Bear Mountain. (He also saw a Western Spring Azure at Florence Lake on April 16.)  He writes that one of the Moss’s Elfins was nectaring on a Dandelion, and another on Claytonia parviflora. He notes that he has seen some Cabbage Whites from downtown Victoria to North Saanich in the last few days. Not far away on the Pathfinder Trail off Munn Road, Jeremy Tatum saw 6 Western Spring Azures, 7 Sara Orangetips, 5 Western Brown Elfins and 5 Moss’s Elfins (in 2.5 hours’ searching). All but the Western Brown Elfin were firsts-for-the-year for him. He notes that one of the Orangetips was nectaring on Dandelion!  He also saw a few Cabbage Whites from the car window on his way to Munn Road.

And even as I type, a message comes in from Nathan Fisk titled:  “What a day, Jeremy!”  So let’s see what Nathan has to report.  He says “The creatures have burst to life!  He saw Western Spring Azures, Sara Orange Tips and Cabbage Whites at Fort Rodd Hill, and he sends photographs of a Western Brown Elfin and a Satyr Comma.  I believe the latter is the first one reported to Invert Alert this year.

Western Brown Elfin Incisalisa iroides (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Nathan Fisk

 Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrus  (Lep.:  Nymphalidae)   Nathan Fisk

Rosemary Jorna sends a photograph of a beetle on Spring Gold on the top of Mount Wells yesterday, April 20.  Thanks to Charlene Wood for identifying it as a Soft-winged Flower Beetle, Listrus sp. of the Family Melyridae.  Need to have a close look at the naughty bits to be sure of the exact species.

 Listrus sp. (Col.: Melyridae)   Rosemary Jorna

2017 April 20

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I saw at least 5 Cabbage Whites from the care window this afternoon when I was driving from downtown to UVic.  I hope this means an end to our butterfly dearth.

   Annie Pang sends recent pictures of bees and a butterfly from Gorge Park.

Osmia lignaria (Hym.:  Megachilidae)   Annie Pang

Andrena sp. (Hym.: Andrenidae)  Annie Pang

Andrena sp. (Hym.: Andrenidae)  Annie Pang

 Bombus vosnesenskii (Hym.: Apidae)  Annie Pang

Bombus vosnesenskii (Hym.: Apidae)  Annie Pang

 Western Brown Elfin   (Lep.: Lycaenidae)   Annie Pang

2017 April 19

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  At last, some moths at my Saanich Apartment rear door, if not particularly spectacular ones.  The first is a pug, and I usually by default call them Eupithecia annulata – which I think is actually correct in this case. The second is Emmelina monodactyla.

Eupithecia annulata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

Emmelina monodactyla (Lep.:  Pterophoridae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Annie Pang sends a photograph of a female mining bee from Gorge Park, April 16.

 Andrena sp. (Hym.: Andrenidae)  Annie Pang

   Nathan Fisk writes:  Caught a few flutterings yesterday (18^th April) at Fort Rodd Hill.

 2 Cabbage Whites, 1 Moss’s Elfin feeding on Red Flowering Currant and 1 Western Spring Azure.

2017 April 18, evening

   We continue with Rosemary’s adventures with strange creatures in the Sooke Hills.  Here is her photograph of a pair of large millipedes.

Millipedes Harpaphe haydeniana (Polydesmida:  Xystodesmidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   Annie Pang photographed a fierce-looking fly in Gorge Park, April 16.  The life history of this fly is unsuited for some viewers.  So is that of its prey, come to think of it.

Epalpus signifer (Dip.: Tachinidae)  Annie Pang

      Gordon and Anne-Marie Hart report 2 Moss’s Elfins and a Cabbage White in their Highlands garden today.

2017 April 18 morning

   This morning’s posting is exclusively devoted to the Class Arachnida – a wide range of them: spiders, a tick hard at work, a mite, and even a false scorpion!  There will probably be another posting this evening with more familiar creatures.

   Two spiders.  One with an eggsac, moving fast over the hills, west of the Sooke River, photographed by Rosemary Jorna, April 17.  And a tiny money spider  (3.5 mm, not including legs) from Quick’s Bottom, April 17, photographed by Jeremy Tatum.

Female wolf spider Pardosa (maybe vancouveri) (Ara.: Lycosidae)  Rosemary Jorna

Money spider (Ara.: Linyphiidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Here is a photograph of a tick hard at work on Rosemary Jorna on the Sooke Hills, April17.

 Western Black-legged Tick Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae)  Rosemary Jorna

And here is a velvet mite, also photographed by Rosemary in the Sooke Hills, April 17.

Thanks to Heather Proctor for the identification.

Red mite (Acari:  Trombidioidea – probably Trombidiidae)

This morning, April 18, in Metchosin, Rosemary Jorna photographed a false scorpion reading the latest news about Senator Rubio and President Trump.

 False scorpion (Order Pseudoscorpiones)  Rosemary Jorna