2016 April 24

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I found this bug on Mount Tolmie yesterday, April 23.  Thanks to Scott Gilmore for the identification:

Eurygaster sp. (Hem.:  Scutelleridae)   Jeremy Tatum

  Annie Pang photographed the highflyer moth below in her back porch in Victoria, April 23.   At present I’m labelling it Hydriomena (probably marinata), but we’ll see what other moth-ers think.

 Hydriomena (probably marinata) (Lep.: Geometridae)  Annie Pang

   Rosemary sends some high drama from Kemp Lake Road.  The spider is Misumena vatia. The caterpillar is a geometrid.  I can’t tell for sure beyond that, but I’d guess that there’s a very good chance that it is a pug of the genus Eupithecia.

Crab spider Misumena vatia (Ara.: Thomisidae)  Rosemary Jorna

The caterpillar is a geometrid, probably Eupithecia sp.

   Rosemary sends a photograph of a ladybird beetle from Kemp Lake Road.  I was hoping it was something different, but, alas, Scott Gilmore tells me that it is just the familiar and ubiquitous Multicoloured Asian Ladybird Beetle Harmonia axyridis.  At any rate, it does illustrate how variable this beetle can be.  Scott writes:  I think this is the most variable insect I have ever seen. For a while I was thinking it was something different as well, as it does not have the "usual" head coloration. When I looked at it further it seemed that even those characters vary!

 Multicoloured Asian Ladybird Beetle Harmonia axyridis (Col.: Coccinellidae)

Rosemary Jorna