2023 June 10

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Here is a caterpillar of a Satyr Comma from Stinging Nettle along  Lochside Drive north of Blenkinsop Lake:

 Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Jeremy Tatum

2023 June 9 evening

  Marie O’Shaughnessy writes from Outerbridge Park, June 8:  I had four Cardinal Meadowhawks trying to secure mates, several Blue Dashers were seen as well as one California Darner.  I also saw two Lorquin’s Admirals, two Cabbage Whites, and three Western Tiger Swallowtails.

  Cardinal Meadowhawks Sympetrum illotum  (Odo.: Libellulidae) Marie O’Shaughnessy

  Cardinal Meadowhawk Sympetrum illotum  (Odo.: Libellulidae) Marie O’Shaughnessy

Four-spotted Skimmer Libellula quadrimaculata
(Odo.: Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

2023 June 9 morning

    Aziza Cooper photographed a damselfly and a dragonfly at Pease Lake on June 8.

Boreal or Northern Bluet Enallagma boreale or annexum
(Odo.: Coenagrionidae)
Aziza Cooper

Chalk-fronted Corporal Ladona julia (Odo.: Libellulidae)
Aziza Cooper

Kirsten Mills writes:  June 8, at the cemetery on West Saanich Road, Jeff Gaskin and I saw 3 Field Crescents and 3 Essex Skippers:

Field Crescent Phyciodes pratensis (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Kirsten Mills

Field Crescent Phyciodes pratensis (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Kirsten Mills

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Kirsten Mills

Jeremy Tatum shows a photograph of an Enargia infumata, reared from a caterpillar found on Populus at UVic.

Enargia infumata (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Jeremy Tatum

2023 June 8

    Jeremy Tatum writes: Yesterday, two small moths, which had been reared from caterpillars, emerged from their pupae.  Although we were able to obtain photographs of pristine-fresh adult moths, this unfortunately did not enable us to identify them. The first is a pug – of the geometrid genus Eupithecia.  This is a large genus – a 1990 study found more than 60 species in Canada, and doubtless others have been added since.  The caterpillars of many of them feed on the flowers of their foodplants.  While a few adults have distinctive markings and are readily identifiable, many of them are frustratingly similar and are difficult to identify from a photograph.  The caterpillar of the moth shown below was found on Rosa nutkana.   The moth bears some resemblance to Eupithecia maestosa, but we have not been able to identify it with any certainty.

 Unidentified pug Eupithecia sp.  (Lep.: Geometridae)
Jeremy Tatum

   The second moth, shown as a caterpillar and as an adult, is a tortricid.  The larval foodplant was Populus.  The moth bears some resemblance to the variable species Epinotia solandriana, but that is by no means an identification, and we prefer at present to accept that the moth is for the moment unidentified.

Unidentified caterpillar (Lep.: Tortricidae) Jeremy Tatum

Unidentified moth (Lep.: Tortricidae) Jeremy Tatum

Val George writes:  On June7, I checked out the site where Ron Flower found the Field Crescents on June 5. There were at least six there.  Also at the site was a Mourning Cloak and my first Essex Skipper of the year.

Field Crescent Phyciodes pratensis (Lep.:  Nymphalidae)
Val George

Mike Yip photographed this magnificent animal is his backyard in Nanoose, June 7:

Female Elm Sawfly Cimbex americana (Hym.: Cimbicidae)
Mike Yip

2023 June 7 evening

    This will come as a surprise to many butterfly watchers.  Here’s a photograph of a female Silvery Blue nectaring on Great Camas, photographed on May 14 by Steven Roias at Swan Lake:

Female Silvery Blue Glaucopsyche lygdamus (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Steven Roias

Female Silvery Blue Glaucopsyche lygdamus (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Steven Roias

And here’s a Lorquin’s Admiral photographed on June 7 on Mount Tolmie by Marie O’Shaughnessy.

Lorquin’s Admiral Limenitis lorquini  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Next is one first instar caterpillar from a large group of Mourning Cloak caterpillars found by Jeremy Tatum on Aspen at Cattle Point, June 7

Mourning Cloak  Nymphalis antiopa  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
Jeremy Tatum

   Jochen Möhr writes from Metchosin:  The enjoyable relative abundance of showy butterflies continues.  Today several only in flight: One Mourning Cloak, several P. zelicaon, several P. eurymedon/rutulus, and one Red Admiral.  Incidentally, the first I ever got a picture of despite their being quite frequent.

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta  (Lep.:  Nymphalidae)  Jochen Möhr

Lastly, for those who are interested, the trails through the wooded parts of Swan Lake are very rich with numerous culicids at the moment.  Aziza Cooper and Jeremy Tatum fled.    For those who may not be sure what a culicid is, Google “Culicidae” before you rush off to Swan Lake to see them.