2023 August 11

   Marie O’Shaughnessy photographed two insects on Gumweed at Esquimalt Lagoon August 8.  If any viewer can help with their identification, please do let us know.

Leaf-cutter bee (Hym.: Megachilidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Unknown, probably Ichneumonoidea    Marie O’Shaughnessy

Aziza Cooper writes:  On August 10, there was one very worn Painted Lady at McIntyre Reservoir. About 15 Woodland Skippers and one Cabbage White were also there.

2023 August 10

   Cheryl Hoyle photographed these three insects in View Royal today (and identified them, writes Jeremy Tatum, which is a great help!)

Green Bottle  Lucilia (probably sericata) (Dip.:  Calliphoridae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Western Polished Lady Beetle Cycloneda polita
(Col.: Coccinellidae)
Cheryl Hoyle

Delicate Apple-capsid Bug Malacocoris chlorizans (Hem.: Miridae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Richard Rycraft writes:  I have attached a picture of a sadly deceased moth I found on my Oak Bay patio I think it is Lophocampa argentata.   [So do I!  Jeremy Tatum]

Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentata
(Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae)
Richard Rycraft

Jeremy Tatum saw a Painted Lady and a Red Admiral on the Mount Tolmie reservoir at 5:00 pm today, August 10.

2023 August 9 evening

   Jochen Möhr reports that he spotted his first Pine White of the year in the Douglas Firs in Metchosin today.

Kirsten Mills saw a Western Tiger Swallowtail while she was driving along Blanshard Street near the Saanich Municipal Hall this afternoon, August 9.

Jeff Gaskin and Jeremy Tatum saw at least two Painted Ladies on the top of Mount Tolmie at about 5:15 pm this afternoon.

Jeremy Tatum reports dozens of Woodland Skippers at Quick’s Bottom this afternoon.

Kirsten Mills writes:  I was told about a spot to see the Swift Forktail. Jeff Gaskin and I went to the Duncan Sewage Lagoons yesterday, August 8, and we saw one female Swift Forktail. This was a new damselfly species for us.

Female Swift Forktail Ischnura erratica (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)  Kirsten Mills

2023 August 9 morning

   Val George sends a picture of a Mint Moth, one of the many that have been frequenting his mint patch for a couple of months.

Mint Moth Pyrausta californicalis (Lep.: Crambidae) Val George

Gordon Hart writes from Highlands: Just a note to say we saw two quite worn Lorquin’s Admirals on August 7.  I was trying to photograph one, when a Wall Lizard attacked it. I was glad the butterfly managed to avoid the lizard and fly away.  Other than that, we saw just one Woodland Skipper and many bees.

Jeff Gaskin writes:       Kirsten Mills and I had an especially good time with dragonflies on August 7th.  At McIntyre Road reservoir we saw six species of dragonflies that included the following:   9 Blue-eyed Darners,  4 Common Green Darners,  3 Black Saddlebags,  4 Blue Dashers,  15 Western Pondhawks, and 4 Eight-spotted Skimmers as well as the usual two damselflies: 40+ Tule Bluets and 4 Pacific Forktails.

The butterflies we saw included :   2 male Purplish Coppers, 13  Woodland Skippers and 25 Cabbage Whites.

At Outerbridge  Park, where we went again for a second day in a row,  the dragonflies we saw included 2 Blue Dashers,  6 Paddle-tailed Darners and a Striped Meadowhawk.

Finally we went to Esquimalt Lagoon, where we counted an incredible 58 Variegated Meadowhawks all along the beach.  Also, it’s worth knowing that we only covered about 40% of the lagoon as we walked along both the lagoon and the beach sides.  There could easily have been over 100 of these usually hard to find Meadowhawks.

Here are photographs, by Kirsten Mills, of some of the insects mentioned by Jeff;

Purplish Copper  Lycaena helloides (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Kirsten Mills

Variegated Meadowhawk  Sympetrum corruptum
(Odo.: Libellulidae)
Kirsten Mills

Striped Meadowhawk  Sympetrum pallipes (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Western Pondhawk Erythemis collocata   (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis (Odo.: Libellulidae)
Kirsten Mills

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Kirsten Mills

Jeff Gaskin writes:    Yesterday, August 8, Kirsten Mills and I went to the Cowichan Valley.  Along the trail west of the Duncan sewage lagoons we saw both a Lorquin’s Admiral and a Western Tiger Swallowtail.  Then at someone’s private residence on Riverside Road again in Duncan we saw another Lorquin’s Admiral.

Marie O’Shaughnessy sends photographs of the Variegated Meadowhawk from Esquimalt Lagoon, August 8.  She writes that there were many more there in the sunshine.

Male Variegated Meadowhawk Sympetrum corruptum
(Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Male Variegated Meadowhawk Sympetrum corruptum
(Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Female Variegated Meadowhawk Sympetrum corruptum
(Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

2023 August 8 afternoon

Please respond if you are interested – or pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested.

Here are three bumble bees from Sunday’s (August 6) VNHS Butterfly Walk, kindly identified for us by Steven Roias.  Lorquin’s Admirals being a little scarce recently, Steven reports having seen one at Royal Roads University on August 6, and one at Tod Inlet on August 7.

Male Bombus vancouverensis  (Hym.: Apidae) Gordon Hart

Male Bombus vancouverensis  (Hym.: Apidae)  Aziza Cooper

Male Bombus flavifrons  (Hym.: Apidae) Aziza Cooper

Also from that Walk, two unidentified hymenopterans, believed to be Adrenidae.  If anyone can help, please do so!

Probably Mining bee (Hym.: Adrenidae) Gordon Hart

Probably Mining bee (Hym.: Adrenidae) Gordon Hart

Marie O’Shaughnessy photographed this Paddle-tailed Darner at Outerbridge Park.  She is fascinated with the human faces that some dragonflies have.

Paddle-tailed Darner Aeshna palmata (Odo.: Aeshnidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Paddle-tailed Darner Aeshna palmata (Odo.: Aeshnidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Marie photographed this Soldier beetle at McIntyre reservoir, August 6:

Soldier beetle Rhagonycha fulva  (Col.: Cantharidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

She also photographed these two stink bug nymphs – the first one at Cowichan River Park, August 2; the second one at Outerbridge Park, August 5.  We thank Scott Gilmore for their identification.

Brochymena sp.  (Hem.: Pentatomidae)  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Cosmopepla intergressa (Hem.: Pentatomidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Aziza Cooper photographed a Mourning Cloak along Lochside Trail north of Blenkinsop Lake on August 7.

Mourning Cloak Nymphalis antiopa  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Aziza Cooper

Cheryl Hoyle photographed the following along the Dallas Road waterfront on August 7.   We need someome who is good at Hymenoptera to help witi identifications in that Order (other than Bombus).  Jeremy Tatum writes:  I’m making a wild guess at Halictidae for the first one.

Hymenoptera – possibly Halictidae.   Cheryl Hoyle

Bombus vosnesenskii (Hym.: Apidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Bombus vosnesenskii (Hym.: Apidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Male Cabbage White Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae)   Cheryl Hoyle

Female Cabbage White Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae)   Cheryl Hoyle

Woodland Skipper  Ochlodes sylvanoides  (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

More tomorrow…