2023 July 28

There was no Invert Alert on July 27.

Teasel at McIntyre Reservoir.  Jeremy Tatum writes:  When I visited the reservoir on July 2 (with the VNHS Butterfly Walk), there was a huge amount of Teasel, but most of it was not yet in flower.  Yesterday, July 27, I went there again hoping that by now it was in flower.  Instead, I discovered that (apart from a few individual plants) the flowering was already well past, with most of the plants having gone to seed.  I wonder if the short flowering season was connected somehow with the long, hot, dry spell that we have been experiencing.  In any case, it looks as though we can’t expect great numbers of butterflies there in the coming weeks.

Cheryl Hoyle photographed this spider at View Royal on July 25.  Her suggestion that it is Enoplognatha ovata proved correct.  Dr Robb Bennett writes: I’m pretty sure that it is one of the morphs of Enoplognatha ovata. The most common morphs usually have some amount of red coloration on the dorsal abdomen. I think this linear spotted form is less common. The spiders themselves are abundant.

Enoplognatha ovata (Ara.: Theridiidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Enoplognatha ovata (Ara.: Theridiidae)  Cheryl Hoyle

Val George photographed these two moths at his Oak Bay home today:

Scallopshell  Rheumaptera undulata (Lep.: Geometridae)
Val George

Vitula serratilineella (Lep.: Pyralidae)  Val George