2023 June 13 evening

   Marie O’Shaughnessy sends some butterfly photographs from Mount Tolmie, June 12:

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Pale Tiger Swallowtail Papilio eurymedon  (Lep.: Papilionidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus  (Lep.: Papilionidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Here are some photographs from Jeff Gaskin and Kirsten Mills’s trip described in yesterday’s Invert.

Clodius Parnassian Parnassius clodius  (Lep.: Papilionidae)
Kirsten Mills

Clodius Parnassian Parnassius clodius  (Lep.: Papilionidae)
Kirsten Mills

Common Whitetail Plathemis lydia (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Jeremy Tatum writes:  This moth was on the wall of my Saanich apartment building this morning:

White Satin Moth Leucoma salicis  (Lep.: Erebidae – Lymantriinae)  Jeremy Tatum

Gordon Hart writes from the Highlands:  Yesterday, June 12, I saw two flies flying around each other and confronting each other until flying off.  The two flies were quite different-looking, so I wonder if it is a male-female interaction, or two species being territorial?

Jeremy Tatum replies:  In spite of the different appearance, I suspect (only!) that they are of the same species.  I think (not 100 percent certain) that they are probably Narcissus Bulb Flies Merodon equestris.

Gordon continues:  We still had both Pale and Western Tiger Swallowtails, Lorquin’s Admirals , and two slightly worn Green Commas.

Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)   Gordon Hart

Probably Merodon equestris  (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Gordon Hart

2023 June 12

   Tiger Swallowtails and Lorquin’s Admirals continue in full swing now.  Here are some photographs from yesterday, by Jochen Möhr in Metchosin.

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus  (Lep.: Papilionidae)
Jochen Möhr

Pale Tiger Swallowtail Papilio eurymedon  (Lep.: Papilionidae)
Jochen Möhr

Lorquin’s Admiral  Limenitis lorquini  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Jochen Möhr

Lorquin’s Admiral  Limenitis lorquini  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Jochen Möhr

Lorquin’s Admiral  Limenitis lorquini  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Jochen Möhr

Jeff Gaskin writes:  June 12, Kirsten Mills and I had a good time looking for butterflies and dragonflies in Cowichan and along the Nanaimo River Road.  Along Nanaimo River Road we saw a Dun Skipper and 8 Clodius Parnassians.  Four of the Clodius Parnassians were across the street from 1639 Nanaimo River Road.  A few Western Spring Azures were still flying in this area too.  Also, in the area were good numbers of Lorquin’s Admirals, Pale and Western Tiger Swallowtails and Cabbage Whites.

Among the dragonflies seen included the following:  a Cardinal Meadowhawk, a Common Whitetail, a Four-spotted Skimmer and Blue-eyed Darners at the pond down the road from the Duncan sewage lagoons.  Another Common Whitetail, and Blue-eyed Darners were at Spectacle Lake.

Aziza Cooper sends photographs of a butterfly and dragonfly from Panama Flats and a fly from Uplands Park, June 11.

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Aziza Cooper

Common Green Darner Anax junius  (Odo.: Aeshnidae)
Aziza Cooper

Narcissus Bulb Fly  Merodon equestris  (Dip.: Syrphidae)  Aziza Cooper

Jeremy Tatum shows a moth that emerged today, reared from a caterpillar found at Munn Road last year, and fed on Alder.   This is a full-colour photograph, not just a black-and-white.

 Acronicta dactylina   (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

2023 June 11 evening

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I visited the site of the Silvery Blue colony at Koksilah Road today.  No butterflies – adults or ova.   However, I think we may be too late in the season to see them, and the colony probably still survives.  The lupin flowers are almost finished – going to seed.   There are no lupins on the grass verge outside the fence – but there are plenty inside the fence in the field.  Be warned if you go there that the ground along the verge outside the fence is exceedingly irregular, and it would be very easy to break an ankle there.

I also visited the railway line north of Cowichan Station.  Very few butterflies there.  No Margined Whites – perhaps we are in between the flight seasons of the two broods.  Just two or three each of Western Tiger Swallowtail and Lorquin’s Admiral, one Western Spring Azure (I tried hard to identify it as some other species, but it persistently came up as Western Spring Azure) and one Cedar Hairstreak.  And, while they have no business on this invertebrate site, I saw two huge, fist-sized Western Toads.  I have seen them there in other years, too.

Jeff Gaskin writes that he saw a Four-spotted Skimmer today in the area between the parking lot and Tuesday Pond at Swan Lake – a lifer for him!   He may see more later on, for they are not uncommon, and the shape of the abdomen is distinctive.   There are currently lots of culicids in that area.  I wonder if Jeff found any there – or, to be more accurate, if any found him.

2023 June 11 morning

   Help!  Jeremy Tatum writes:  I am currently rearing a caterpillar that feeds only upon Cascara Frangula purshiana (aka Rhamnus purshiana).  At present I have to drive several miles daily to find this plant.  Can anyone tell me where to find this plant nearer to my home?  I do not need a general statement such as that it is common and widespread throughout the area.   What I need – ASAP  –   is the exact location of an actual plant within two miles of my home, which is at the corner of Shelbourne Street and Cedar Hill Cross Road.  Please let me know at tatumjb352 at gmail dot com

In the meantime the only offering this morning is a tortricid moth, probably belonging to one or other of the genera Choristoneura or Pandemis.  Libby Avis points out that the flare near the apex of the forewings, which gives many tortricids “bell-shaped” wings, is more pronounced in Choristoneura than in Pandemis.  That, plus other small details, makes it more likely that the moth shown is Choristoneura rosaceana.

  Probably Choristoneura rosaceana (Lep.: Tortricidae) Jeremy Tatum