2022 August 12

    Three moths, August 11, from Jochen Möhr in Metchosin, Val George in Oak Bay, and Jeremy Tatum in Saanich:

Autographa corusca (lLep.: Noctuidae) Jochen Möhr

 

Pero mizon/morrisonaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Val George

 

Hypena californica (Lep.: Erebidae – Hypeninae) Jeremy Tatum

   This morning I had a long, leisurely, close look at a fairly fresh Mourning Cloak perched on the northeastern part of the boardwalk at Swan Lake.

   This afternoon I saw a full grown and fully-fed caterpillar of a Sheep Moth wandering around on Lochside Drive north of Blenkinsop Lake, looking for a place to pupate.  I took him home to offer him a nice home in a pile of sterilized potting soil.  He seemed a little confused, so I gave him a single very gentle nudge with the tip of one of my fingers.  That was a mistake.  The resulting itch on my finger is a little worse that that caused by a mosquito or stinging nettle, and it seems to be spreading.  I have sometimes wondered if I have been exaggerating a little on this site when warning viewers not to handle this caterpillar.  I now know that I was not exaggerating.