2015 May 12

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Sorry there was no posting yesterday.  It was not from want of material – I just got a bit behind with other stuff.  It may take a couple of days before I’m fully back to schedule, so some of your contributions may be a day or so late in appearing.  But, keep ’em coming!

   Jeff Gaskin writes:  On May 10, on the Mount Tolmie reservoir there were 2 fresh Red Admirals, and 1 West Coast Lady. This was around 4:15 pm.

   Jeremy Tatum adds:  And at the same time, 4:15 pm, today, May 12, there were five species of nymphalid on the reservoir: Red Admiral, Painted Lady, West Coast Lady, California Tortoiseshell, Mourning Cloak.  Not just singles, either, but two or three of several of them.  Basking on the reservoir with wings wide open, or chasing each other excitedly in the sky.   Well worth a visit after about 4:00 on a sunny day.  And it would also be worth looking on other hilltops, such as Mount Douglas, Christmas Hill, and Highrock Park.

  Judy Spearing writes:   I was working along Feltham Trail today and I decided to check on some young Black Hawthorns that Saanich had planted last year. I found all of the young trees were covered and almost defoliated by a type of geometrid. I brought one home to photograph and have attached a picture to this note.

  Jeremy Tatum comments:  I thought I wouldn’t have to wait long before someone drew attention to this creature!  It is known here as Erannis vancouverensis,  although I am not totally convinced that it is anything different from the European Erannis defoliaria, also known as the Mottled Umber.   However, I’ll be a good boy and label it vancouverensis.  It is by far the most abundant caterpillar here at the moment, eating almost anything, but in particular attacking Garry Oaks.  In parts of Uplands Park there are two to three caterpillars on every leaf.  It is almost as devastating to the Garry Oaks as the menace caused by the dangerous invasive English Oak that was recently felled at Swan Lake.  The adult Erannis moths appear in the winter.  The males are quite striking, but the females have no functional wings.

Erannis vancouverensis (Lep.: Geometridae)  Judy Spearing

   Scott Gilmore sent us a puzzler with these two photos from Upper Lantzville:  They are Egira sp.   but which species –  Egira simplex or Egira crucialis?   The adults of these two species are very similar, although the caterpillars are different, so they are indeed separate species.  I have discussed them with Libby Avis and Jeremy Gatten, but I don’t think any of us would bet our life savings on which species it is.  I believe, on the preponderance of evidence (civil standard) that the first is probably Egira crucialis, but not beyond reasonable doubt (criminal standard).  The second is…?  Maybe simplex?  Not sure.  We evidently need to study these two species more closely.

   Jeremy Gatten writes:  Here’s a batch of recent moths from Saanichton, plus a very good robber fly.  I found a few of the uncommon and uniquely-coloured Nicocles rufus  and I got some photos yesterday out in Colwood in the gravel pit off Veteran’s Memorial Parkway.

   Jeremy Tatum comments:  The moth Hypena humuli has a long snout (labial palpi), and is known as The Snout Moth.  The caterpillar feeds on Stinging Nettle, but also occasionally on Hops, which has given the moth its alternative name The Hope Vine Moth.  Caterpillars of Lithophane  species (“pinions”)  feed on various plants – but also on other caterpillars!

Hypena humuli  (Lep.: Erebidae – Hypeninae)  Jeremy Gatten

Robber fly Nicocles rufus   (Dip.:  Asilidae) Jeremy Gatten

   Lots more to come, but they will have to wait until tomorrow.

2015 May 10

   Bill Katz writes: I found a West Coast Lady, my first, flying lazily about the Cedar Hill Cross Road entrance of Finnerty Gardens on Sunday morning, May 10.  I photographed my first ever Red Admiral this afternoon in our garden at Spencer Castle on Summit Hill.

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Bill Katz

   Bill continues: I found a Eupithecia rotundopuncta,and the second moth shown below, in Haro Woods.  I also saw a faded Udea profundalis, my first of 2015.

Eupithecia rotundopuncta (Lep.: Geometridae) Bill Katz

2015 May 9

   It must have needed some patience, but Val George managed to get a great photo of the West Coast Lady that was on the Mount Tolmie reservoir yesterday.  I believe this is only the second photo of a West Coast Lady that we have had on this Invert site since we started it in 2010, the previous one being in 2013.  We are trying to recover all the archived Invert Alerts, and hope to get them up again sometime.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I was pottering around in various locations in Central Saanich today, and I saw one or two of each of Painted Lady, Mourning Cloak, Red Admiral and  Satyr Comma.    I met Jeremy Gatten there, and he, too, had seen the same species.

    Jeff Gaskin writes: There was a Western Brown Elfin along Gorge Road East near Harriet Road and this was a first of the year for me.

2015 May 8

    Scott Gilmore writes from Upper Lantzville: 

I found a Cabbage Seedpod Weevil Ceutorhynchus obstrictus in the garden yesterday on flowering Kale. Another European species.

Ceutorhynchus obstrictus (Col.: Curculionidae) Scott Gilmore

   Jeremy Tatum writes: I visited Mount Tolmie today (May 8) at about 2:00 pm and I didn’t see any butterflies at all, either on the reservoir or on the way up.  At 4:30 pm, however, it was a totally different story.  Sunning themselves on the reservoir were two Painted Ladies, a West Coast Lady and a Mourning Cloak, while a few Propertius Duskywings and Western Spring Azures and at least one Western Tiger Swallowtail were flying around nearby. I didn’t see a Red Admiral there, but there was one earlier in the day on Lochside Drive between Lohbrunner’s and Blenkinsop Lake, which seemed to be taking some interest in a nettle patch.

2015 May 7

   Jeremy Tatum sends a photo of a Spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa maculata that was at his Saanich apartment this morning.

Spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa maculata (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiidae) Jeremy Tatum

   At 4:00 pm this afternoon (May 7) there were a Red Admiral, two Painted Ladies and a West Coast Lady on the Mount Tolmie reservoir.