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.

October 17

2016 October 17

 

   Sending your contributions to Invert Alert.   For some time the heading at the top of Invert Alert suggested that you send your contributions (photographs and observations) to invertalert@naturevictoria.ca    We have found it much more efficient, however, if you send your contributions direct to Jeremy Tatum at jtatum@uvic.ca, which most of you have been doing anyway, and we have changed the instructions on the heading to the site accordingly.

 

   The bark lice and book lice comprise a not-very-well-known Order Psocoptera.  They are tiny and inconspicuous insects, and not often photographed, so it is amazing for Invert Alert to receive two excellent photographs of bark lice within a few days.  Hot on the heels of Liam Singh’s bark louse (October 11 posting), comes one from Kemp Lake Road by Rosemary Jorna.   Thanks to Dr E. Mockford for the identification

 

Bark louse Graphopsocus cruciatus (Pso: Stenopsocidae)   Rosemary Jorna