INVERTEBRATE ALERT
This blog provides an informal forum for terrestrial invertebrate watchers to post recent sightings of interesting observations in the southern Vancouver Island region. Please send your sightings by email to Jeremy Tatum (tatumjb352@gmail.com). Be sure to include your name, phone number, the species name (common or scientific) of the invertebrate you saw, location, date, and number of individuals. If you have a photograph you are willing to share, please send it along. Click on the title above for an index of past sightings.The index is updated most days.

May 3

2016 May 3

 

   Jeremy Tatum writes:   The longer I edit this site, the more amazed I am at the enormous diversity of invertebrates we have in our area, the huge variety of creatures that users manage to photograph, and the tremendous quality of the photographs.  Thanks and congratulations to all contributors are in order, and thanks to the several experts who have helped us with identifications.

 

   Annie Pang sends a photograph of a damselfly:

 

Damselfly Enallagma sp. (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)  Annie Pang

 

Val George sends a picture of a Green Comma from Gordon and Anne-Marie Hart’s Highlands house during the May 1 butterfly walk.  He writes that it shows the identifying features on both the dorsal and ventral sides.

 

  Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Val George

 

He also sends the top of a lupine flower seen at the Colwood turnoff during the butterfly walk.  The sharp-eyed will see on it two eggs of the Silvery Blue butterfly.

 

Silvery Blue eggs Glaucopsyche lygdamus

(Lep.: Lycaenidae)

Val George

 

 

Aziza Cooper sends some photographs of commas from Mount Cokely and from Taylor Road.  Commas are difficult but I believe these are Green Commas.

 

 

Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Aziza Cooper

Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Aziza Cooper

 

 

Green Comma Polygonia faunus (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Aziza Cooper

 

 

   Rosemary Jorna agrees with several other observers that there have been very few Satyr Commas this year.  Jeremy Tatum has yet to see one.

 

Aziza sends a selection of other butterflies from a recent visit to Mount Cokely.

 

Western Brown Elfin Incisalia iroides (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Aziza Cooper

Two-banded Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus ruralis (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Aziza Cooper

Western Pine Elfin Incisalia eryphon (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Aziza Cooper

Western Tailed Blue Everes amyntula (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Aziza Cooper

 

Jody Wells photographed a tiger beetle at Cordova Spit.  These beetles run around so rapidly that Jody did well to get a photograph. Thanks to Claudia Copley for identifying it as Cicindela tranquebarica.

 

 

Tiger beetle Cicindela tranquebarica (Col.: Carabidae – Cicindelinae)

  Jody Wells

   Rosemary Jorna writes: I went looking for micro snails on our big leaf maples today May 2 2016 and found a second population; previous searches had not revealed them. The white curved shape is my fingernail.

 

 Nearctula sp. (Pul.:  Vertiginidae)  Rosemary Jorna

 

Jeremy Tatum writes:   That’s all I have time for today!   There are more photos in the queue, so please have patience.  I’ll get them up in the next couple of days.