2015 May 6
Jeremy Tatum writes: A Red Admiral and a Mourning Cloak were sunning themselves on the Mount Tolmie reservoir at 4:00 pm today, Wednesday May 6. Late afternoon is the best time to find hill-topping nymphalids on the reservoir.
This blog provides an informal forum for terrestrial invertebrate watchers to post recent sightings of interesting observations in the southern Vancouver Island region. Please send your sightings by email to Jeremy Tatum (tatumjb352@gmail.com). Be sure to include your name, phone number, the species name (common or scientific) of the invertebrate you saw, location, date, and number of individuals. If you have a photograph you are willing to share, please send it along. Click on the title above for an index of past sightings.The index is updated most days.
May 5
2015 May 05
Gordon Hart writes: May 02 was a good day for invertebrates as well as birds. I don’t mean to inundate you [Keep inundating! – Jeremy] with pictures but I have a few I wanted to show you. I saw a very worn comma, I think P. faunus, and nearby a lighter more golden satyrus, I think. Also, a nice Cedar Hairstreak on an apple blossom. All these were at home, but up on Observatory Hill, I saw a female Propertius Duskywing, and also a first for this year, a female Spiny Baskettail. At home, we also saw our first Pale Swallowtail of the year, as well as the usual spring butterflies.
Cedar Hairstreak Mitoura rosneri (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Gordon Hart
Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Gordon Hart
Propertius Duskywing Erynnis propertius (Lep. Hesperiidae) Gordon Hart
Spiny Baskettail Epitheca spinigera (Odo.: Corduliidae) Gordon Hart
Jeremy Tatum sends photos of a moth and a bug from his Saanich apartment, May 4. Thanks to Libby Avis for identifying the moth, and to Scott Gilmore for identifying the bug. The moth is Berhensia conchiformis, which I completely failed to recognize. This moth usually exhibits brilliant, shiny green scintillations (see, for example, Jeremy Gatten’s photograph in the March 22 posting). In spite of the lack of this shiny colour, Libby spotted the pattern, which fits perfectly, and she writes: We see them occasionally with the green and yellow iridescence worn off, which I think is what may have happened here. Libby adds: Still pretty slow here (Port Alberni) at the light, but we did get a Spodolepis danbyi last night (May 3). We don’t see them very often and it’s the first this year.
The bug, writes Scott Gilmore, is a species of rough stink-bug, Brochymena sp. Scott writes that there are two species here, and he can’t be sure from the photo which of the two it is.
Behrensia conchiformis (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum
Brochymena sp. (Hem.: Pentatomidae) Jeremy Tatum
Spodolepis danbyi (Lep.: Geometridae) Libby Avis
Scott Gilmore writes: I have attached a picture of a mating pair of Mecinus pyraster(Curculionidae), a European native that seems abundant this year on stems of Plantago where the young develop.
Also there are pictures of two different species of Epuraea(Nitidulidae) that I found on the weekend.
Mecinus pyraster (Col.: Curculionidae) Scott Gilmore
Epuraea sp. (Col.: Nitidulidae) Scott Gilmore
Epuraea sp. (Col.: Nitidulidae) Scott Gilmore
Corduliidae and Nitidulidae, featured in today’s posting, are Families not previously represented on this site.
May 4
2015 May 4
Aziza Cooper led a very successful Butterfly Walk on May 3. Here is a report on the walk by Aziza, plus some photographs by Aziza and by Val George.
The monthly butterfly walk had about 15 people and excellent weather – calm and sunny, and fairly warm. We began at Mount Tolmie with eight species in a short time:
Anise Swallowtail – 1 very fresh, allowing good looks and photos
Pale Swallowtail – 1 at summit briefly
Painted Lady – 1
Spring Azure – 8
Propertius Duskywing – 2
Cabbage White – 3
Sara Orangetip – 1 faded
Brown Elfin – 2
We went out to Gore and Oak Haven Parks in Brentwood Bay. Our only butterflies there were about 20 Spring Azures, and two briefly seen elfins. The flowers were magnificent!
Also seen was a lizard with two tails: weird and wonderful. (European Wall Lizard)
Two of us went to Mount Douglas summit on the way back, and the hilltopping butterflies were very numerous and active:
Painted Ladies – 12 or more
Red Admiral – 2
California Tortoiseshell – 1, possibly two
Propertius Duskywing – a cluster of three, with two others landing on them.
California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Aziza Cooper
Aziza continues: Several small red moths were at Oak Haven Park. I managed to take a photo of one in flight. [Jeremy Tatum writes: This is the same tiny reddish geometrid that I mentioned on the May 2 posting as having been seen at Munn Road. In spite of its small size, it has an English name: Dark-ribboned Wave. Amazing to photograph this tiny moth in flight, with wings fully outstretched!]
Dark-ribboned Wave Leptostales rubromarginaria (Lep.: Geometridae)
Aziza Cooper
And here are some of Val’s photos from the Walk on Mount Tolmie.
Western Brown Elfin Incisalia iroides (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Val George![]()
Painted Lady Vanessa cardui (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Val George
Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Val George
On the day before, May 2, Gerry and Wendy Ansell write: Today was a seven-species-butterfly day for us. At Christmas Hill there were 2 Anise Swallowtails (a first for us this year – photo attached), 2 Propertius Duskywings, 1 Sara Orangetip, and numerous Spring Azures and Cabbage Whites. In our yard on Cordova Ridge there was a Red Admiral and a Western Brown Elfin.
May 2
2015 May 2
Reminder – Butterfly Walk on Sunday May 3, led by Aziza Cooper. Meet at 1:00 pm at the top of Mount Tolmie. All welcome.
Bill Katz sends a photo of a Barberry Geometer from Goldstream Park.
Barberry Geometer Coryphista meadii (Lep.: Geometridae) Bill Katz
Jeremy Tatum reports a tiny, tiny reddish-brown geometrid from Munn Road this morning, May 2 – the Dark-ribboned Wave Leptostales rubromarginaria. Sorry – I didn’t manage a photograph. Also there were a Moss’s Elfin, and clouds of mud-puddling Western Spring Azures.
In the late afternoon there were a Mourning Cloak and a California Tortoiseshell on the Mount Tolmie reservoir, and a Painted Lady near the nearby Jeffery Pine. All looked a little past their best-before date.
May 1
2015 May 01
Reminder!!
The monthly Butterfly Walk led by Aziza Cooper is this Sunday, May 3 at 1pm. As always, we will meet at the top of Mount Tolmie and decide on our destination. The forecast is for sunshine and warm temperatures. Could be a good butterfly day! For info, email Aziza (tanageraz at yahoo.com), or call her cell phone: 250-516-7703.
Aziza also writes:
Appended is a summary of information I’ve compiled about watching butterflies: books and internet sites of interest. There are also short descriptions of the butterfly count and the butterfly walk.
It’s intended to help out those new to this interest, and remind everyone of what is out there to help us.
Additions and suggestions would be welcome.
Butterfly Watchers’ Resources
by Aziza Cooper, tanageraz@yahoo.com , April, 2015
Comments and suggestions welcome.
Part 1. Butterfly Count: April to September
Watching butterflies is best done on a warm, sunny day with calm to mild winds. Butterflies are most active in bright sun and when the temperature is above 12 ºC, between about 10am to 4pm. Our counts are held from April through September, and the count period is nine days of each month – from the third Saturday to the fourth Sunday.
Counting is straightforward – just count the number of each species you can confidently identify in any convenient location such as a park, field, street or your back yard. Good tools are close-focus binoculars, a field guide and a camera. Photos of rare or unusual species are appreciated. Anyone can submit as many counts as they wish, as long as they fill out a count form for each location. Our count area is the same area as the Victoria Christmas Bird Count circle, with the northern border at about Island View Road, and the western border at Goldstream.
The Butterfly Count isn’t a formal survey with set protocols. It’s very informal, and up to the observers to decide how long they spend in the field. It should be a comfortable length so that the observer can fit it into their busy life, rather than a really intensive search.
Please submit your counts on the form at the new link in the VNHS website:
https://www.vicnhs.bc.ca/website/index.php/butterfly-count
Aziza sends out a reminder email for Butterfly Counts and the monthly Butterfly Walk. To receive the reminders, email Aziza at: tanageraz@yahoo.com .
Counts are compiled monthly by species, and a report of the results is published in The Victoria Naturalist early in the following year.
Part 2: Butterfly Walk
The Butterfly walk is held once a month on the first Sunday from April to September. We meet at 1pm at the summit of Mount Tolmie, and decide on our destination at that time. The outing usually lasts about two hours. The walk is weather-permitting, and will be cancelled in case of cloudy or cool weather. Reminder emails are sent out – see above to be added to the email list.
Part 3: Websites and Internet
InvertAlert (VNHS Invertebrate Alert): All terrestrial invertebrates including butterflies. No membership required. Send photos and sightings to jtatum@uvic.ca For Vancouver Island sightings. Link:
https://www.vicnhs.bc.ca/website/index.php/invertebrate-alert
eFauna: species accounts and photos of BC wildlife including butterflies: http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/efauna/DB_Query/QueryForm.aspx?sort=Genus&ddlVertebrates=141&InvStatus=Both&ddlInsects=&rdRedBlue=Both&ddlVertebrates2=
James Miskelly’s photos of Victoria butterflies on eFauna:
BCButterflies – a Yahoo postings group for BC observations, membership required. Go to Yahoo Groups to join.
Bugguide: an internet site for i.d. and posting of invertebrates. USA and Canada. Postings may request I.D. help. Membership required to post but not required to view. Link:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
Flickr site: VNHSInvertAlert . Photos of all insects including butterflies. Membership required to post but not required to view photos. Link:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/invertalert/
Victoria Natural History Society (VNHS) website. Natural history of Victoria. Includes calendar of field trips for members, many other resources and links.
https://www.vicnhs.bc.ca/website/index.php
BC Butterfly Atlas: compiling sightings and encouraging surveys to add to knowledge about BC butterflies.
http://www.bcbutterflyatlas.ca/
Part 4: Publications in print
The Victoria Naturalist, Victoria Natural History Society’s bimonthly publication. Publishes notice of field trips, annual results of the Butterfly Count, other articles of interest. Magazine included with membership of the Society, and sent as hard copy or electronic version.
Books:
Mike Yip and James Miskelly: Vancouver Island Butterflies. 2014. Species accounts and photos of all species known from Vancouver Island.
Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman: Butterflies of North America (Kaufman Field Guides). 2006. Field guide illustrated with photos.
Jeffrey Glassberg: Butterflies through Binoculars: the West. 2001. Field guide illustrated with photos.
Jon Shepard and Crispin Guppy: Butterflies of British Columbia. 2001. Large hardcover format. Full species accounts and photos.
John Acorn: Butterflies of British Columbia. 2006. Field guide illustrated with paintings.
Ann Nightingale and Claudia Copley, eds. Nature Guide to the Victoria Region. 2012. Chapter on butterflies by James Miskelly with a checklist of Victoria area butterflies.
Jeremy Gatten writes: I was up on Observatory Hill today (May 1) and happened upon a couple of Greater Night-stalking Tiger Beetles (Omus dejeanii). I have only seen them once before, but I guess in the right habitat they are not too hard to come across if you look under woody debris. Other than that, not too much to report. Moths have been fairly slow. I believe I had a new Hydriomena tonight (for the year, at least). I unfortunately lost track of it, so I’ll have to see if it comes back to a light later.
Greater Night-stalking Tiger Beetle Omus dejeanii (Col.: Carabidae – Cicindelinae)Jeremy Gatten