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.

2022 September 10 evening

2022 September 10 evening

    Rob Gowan sends some photos from Saratoga Beach/Miracle Beach taken today.  Thanks to Dr Rob Cannings for identifying the Laphria and confirming the Neomochtherus.

 

Two-striped Grasshopper Melanoplus bivittatus (Orth.: Acrididae)  Rob Gowan

Migratory Grasshopper Melanoplus (probably sanguinipes)(Orth.: Acrididae)  Rob Gowan

Fall Field Cricket Gryllus pennsylvanicus (Orth.: Gryllidae)  Rob Gowan

 

Robber fly Neomochtherus willingstoni (Dip.: Asilidae)  Rob Gowan

Robber fly Laphria fernaldi (Dip.: Asilidae)  Rob Gowan

 

Here’s a spider from Ian Cooper:

Eratigena duellica (Ara.: Agelenidae)  Ian Cooper

 

And here are three hover flies, also known as flower flies, or more often, just syrphids, that we have not yet been able to identify.

 

Hover fly  (Dip.:  Syrphidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Hover fly  (Dip.:  Syrphidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Hover fly  (Dip.:  Syrphidae)  Ian Cooper

Hover fly  (Dip.:  Syrphidae)  Ian Cooper