2015 April 5

   The last few days have been either cold or wet, and we have had no reports of butterflies for a week.  However, today was sunny and, if one could get out of the wind, not too cold, and some butterflies were on the wing.

   David Robichaud reported that Western Elfin butterflies are flying at Government House this week, along with Cabbage White, Sara Orangetip and Western Spring Azure.

  Jeremy Tatum and Bill Savale saw one each of Cabbage White, Sara Orangetip, Western Spring Azure and Mourning Cloak at Latoria Creek Park today.

  Also today, Jeremy Tatum saw a very pretty little geometrid moth with bright orange hindwings at Tower Point.   It was Dasyfidonia avuncularia – a lifer for him.

  Aziza Cooper writes: Today the butterfly walk group [that’s that first of this year’s monthly VNHS butterfly walks that Aziza runs] saw one Propertius Duskywing and a Spring Azure at Mount Tolmie. We went on to the Government House grounds where there were about six Spring Azures and eight Cabbage Whites. We saw two Cabbage Whites mating.   We also saw a Brown Creeper catch and eat a moth with a fat body and wings with a black and white pattern. Last Monday on the west slope of Mount Douglas I saw another Propertius Duskywing and six Sara Orangetips.

  Bill Katz photographed a geometrid moth in Haro Woods on April 4, kindly identified for us by Libby Avis as Perizoma curvilinea, a new one for this site.

Perizoma curvilinea (Lep.: Geometridae)  Bill Katz

      Bill also photographed a maggot at Haro Woods, which Jeremy believes is the larva (also known as a leatherjacket) of a crane fly.

2015 April 2

   Scott Gilmore sends photographs of a looper caterpillar that he found on a Douglas Fir in Upper Lantzville yesterday.

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Scott Gilmore

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Scott Gilmore

   Libby Avis writes:  I’m sending along a couple of March Flies, female on the left and male on the right. The genus is Bibio but I don’t know the species. Quite distinctive because the males’ eyes are so much larger than the females’. Came across a number of these on the Log Train Trail in Port Alberni yesterday.

   Jeremy Tatum comments: Although these are often called March Flies, in our area they are usually most noticeable in April.  The group is named after a common European species, Bibio marci, which does not mean “of March”.  Rather, it means “of Mark”, so called because the species is often abundant near to St Mark’s Day, which is April 25, and they are perhaps better referred to as St Mark’s flies.

St Mark’s fly  Bibio sp. (Dip.: Bibionidae)  Libby Avis

2015 March 31

   Jeremy Tatum sends a photograph of a weevil from his Saanich apartment this morning.  It was identified for him by Scott Gilmore, who writes:  Your beetle is Otiorhynchus singularis (Raspberry Weevil) a native of Europe from the Curculionidae family. The genus is quite common (at least here). There are no native species in the genus, 5 species are known from BC and I have had 4 of them in my backyard. I am not even sure the 5^th species is recorded from the island.

   Scott sends a photo of another Bark Louse from the same cedar tree in his Upper Lantzville backyard. The attached picture is of Ectopsocus briggsi (Ectopsocidae family) that he found on March 10^th.  Kindly identified by Diane Young.

Bark louse Ectopsocus briggsi (Pso.: Ectopsocidae) Scott Gilmore

   Rosemary Jorna writes, from Otter Point:     There were a half dozen of these bees landing on the damp stones of our path this afternoon. It was good to see them as I have not seen that many yet this spring.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  If there’s anyone out there who can identify it, please let us know.  In the meantime I hope I’m not committing some dreadful blunder in labelling it Andrena sp.

   Bill Katz sends a photo of Coryphista meadii  from that famous garage on Summit Hill.

Coryphista meadii (Lep.: Geometridae) Bill Katz

2015 March 30

   Gordon Hart writes:  On the VNHS field trip to  the “Mossy Maple Grove”, we found a few invertebrates around and on the ancient moss-covered maples. I have attached a picture of a Monadenia fidelis out for a walk. We also saw the black and yellow millipede Harpaphe haydeniana, and a small brown cylindrical millipede.

Monadelia fidelis (Pul.: Bradibaenidae) Gordon Hart

   Scott Gilmore writes from Upper Lantzville:  On Febuary 14th my son and I found a bark louse nymph on a Red Cedar in our backyard. I learned last year that you can raise some bark louse on Cheerios and that you might end up with adults. I kept the nymph and gave it a Cheerio, some cedar and a moist environment. Most days I would see the barklouse hanging out on the Cheerio eating or grooming. Eventually on March 2nd I found it on the cedar and it was no longer a nymph but an adult. It took a while to get some decent photos (always difficult of things that are around 2mm long). I sent the specimen to Diane Young in Texas who identified it as a male Lachesilla pacifica.  

(Pso.: Lachesillidae)

Scott Gilmore

Bark louse Lachesilla pacifica (Pso.: Lachesillidae)  Scott Gilmore

2015 March 28

   Jeremy Tatum sends three photographs taken today.  He writes:  I am gradually trying to learn to identify our pugs.  Eupithecia ravocostaliata is one of the larger ones, with distinctive markings, and relatively easy to identify – although even it has a look-alike (E.. nevadata).  This one was on the wall of my Saanich apartment this morning.

  In yesterday’s posting, I showed the pupa of a Sara Orangetip with the colour of the wings of the imago showing through.  Sure enough, the butterfly – a male – emerged today.  After photographing it, I took it out to Munn Road, where the caterpillar came from last year.

  Finally, a snail, Cepaea nemoralis, from McIntyre Reservoir.

Eupithecia ravocostaliata (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Bill Savale reports two Cabbage Whites from Poplar Avenue, Saanich, on March 27.