2022 September 13

    Jeremy Tatum shows a photograph of a mayfly seen today near his Saanich apartment.

Specklewing Mayfly  Callibaetis ferrrugineus (Eph.: Baetidae)

Jeremy Tatum

 

Rosemary Jorna photographed this dragonfly at Sooke Potholes on September 12.  Dr Rob Cannings writes to Rosemary:

The Variable Darner lives up to its name and the lateral thoracic stripes vary from being divided into spots (in BC mainly west of the Coast Mountains and in eastern North America – thus the name “interrupta”) to very thin lines, mainly in the BC  Interior and on the Great Plains. In females especially, even on the Coast, the stripes can be undivided and rather broad, as in your specimen, but are almost always not parallel-sided as they are in A. palmata and A. umbrosa. The black line on the face (as distinct from some species such as A. canadensis, which has a pale brown line) is also a useful field mark.

So what you have is a female Variable Darner  Aeshna interrupta . It’s the yellow form – they also come in a less common blue form, coloured more like the males.

Variable Darner Aeshna interrupta (Odo.: Aeshnidae) Rosemary Jorna

Variable Darner Aeshna interrupta (Odo.: Aeshnidae) Rosemary Jorna

 

Jeff Gaskin writes:  Here is a list of dragonflies I saw today, September 13, at Swan Lake:

2 Blue Dashers,  4 Blue-eyed Darners, and 1 Paddle-tailed Darner.

I only saw the odd Cabbage White at Swan Lake today, nothing else.

 

Marie O’Shaughnessy sends several more photographs of dragonflies:

Female Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis (Odo.: Libellulidae)

  Marie O’Shaughnessy

Male Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis (Odo.: Libellulidae)

Marie O’Shaughnessy

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor (Odo.: Aeshnidae)

Marie O’Shaughnessy

Eight-spotted Skimmer Libellula forensis (Odo.:  Libellulidae)

Marie O’Shaughnessy

Male Shadow Darner Aeshna umbrosa (Odo.: Aeshnidae)

Marie O’Shaughnessy

 

Val George writes: This deceased Large Yellow Underwing  Noctua pronuba was on the ground by my front door this morning, September 13. It afforded me the opportunity to show its yellow hindwings, which are rarely apparent in photos of live specimens.

 

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)  Val George