2023 June 20

   There was no Invert Alert on June 19.

Jeremy Tatum writes:  A big thank you to the several people who located Gooseberry bushes for me.  The hunt is now over and the caterpillar is munching contentedly. On the subject of gooseberries, when I lived in the UK, gooseberries were one of the regular fruits that we ate in summer.  Delicious.  Many people grew them in the garden, and they were regularly sold at the greengrocer’s.  Gooseberries seems not to be eaten here, and it seems a very long time since I have tasted one, and a very long time since I have used the word greengrocer.

Val George sends a photograph of a Udea profundalis from the wall of his Oak Bay house, June 1.

Udea profundalis (Lep.: Crambidae)  Val George

   Why did needles evolve to grow stinging hairs on their leaves and stalks?  Presumably to protect them from being eaten.  Why is it, then, that there are so many species of caterpillar that feed on nettles?  Udea profundalis is one of them.

   Marie O’Shaughnessy writes:  A sortie into Uplands Park for 30 minutes, June 20.  Amazing what one can find when taking the time to look !  I had eight Sheep Moths flying around and three busy procreating.  I also had 1 Lorquin’s Admiral and 6 Essex Skippers.

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

Essex Skipper  Thymelicus lineola (Lep.: Hesperiidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Sheep Moth Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Sheep Moths Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy
Female left, male right

Sheep Moths Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy
Female fore, male behind