2016 April 26

   Gerry and Wendy Ansell write that there was a Propertius Duskywing in a Garry Oak meadow on Mount Tolmie this afternoon (Tues. Apr. 26) – their first for the year.

   Gordon Hart, in response to my query re Satyr Commas, writes:  I have not yet seen a Satyr Comma this year either. There were four reported during the April count period, all from Prospect Lake Road west into the Highlands and Colwood. In our yard I have only seen Green Commas and have been able to see them all closely and photograph them so I am pretty sure they have all been P. faunus.  Meanwhile, Gordon continues: Today in our yard in the Highlands District, I saw my first of the year Two-banded Grizzled Skipper, two Cedar Hairstreaks, a Sara Orangetip, one Green Comma, and several Western Spring Azures.

Female Sara Orangetip Anthocharis sara (Lep.: Pieridae)  Gordon Hart

 Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Gordon Hart

Cedar Hairstreak Mitoura rosneri (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Gordon Hart

Mike Yip writes from Nanoose Bay: It’s always a challenge to find a Western Spring Azure with its wings open, but a female obliged right at my feet this afternoon. Even more difficult is the dorsal view of the Western Pine Elfin or any of our elfins for that matter. I still haven’t seen one with its wings open, but I got a hint of what it might look like in the attached shot.

Female Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Mike Yip

Western Pine Elfin Incisalia eryphon (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Mike Yip

Jeremy Tatum writes: I thought I’d try my hand a photographing a spider, so I photographed this one at Swan Lake today (April 26).  Thanks to Robb Bennett, who writes: A long-jawed orbweaver, Family Tetragnathidae.  This one is almost certainly Tetragnatha versicolor.  Tetragnathids are often hugely abundant, anywhere that is even remotely damp, but especially on the margins of streams, ponds, and lakes, or in wet meadows.

Tetragnatha versicolor (Ara.: Tetragnathidae)  Jeremy Tatum

Nathan Fisk sends a photograph of eggs of a ladybird beetle from Island View Beach, April 25, low down of the stem of a Contorted-pod Evening Primrose Camissonia contorta.  Nathan asks: Why would it choose this location to lay? Mysteries abound!

Ladybird beetle eggs (Col.: Coccinellidae)   Nathan Fisk