2016 October 18

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Did I say that the Invert Alert season is almost over?  Our contributors are proving me wrong, with another interesting batch of creatures.

   Twice recently (October 11 and 17) we have had photographs of bark lice.  Thanks to Dr E. Mockford (University of Illinois) for identifying these for us – and thanks to Dr Rob Cannings for putting me in touch with Dr Mockford.

   Rosemary Jorna writes:  This weather is bringing out the snails. I met this small Pacific Sideband Snail Monadenia fidelis  near the Charters River Salmon Interpretative Centre off Sooke River Road.  There should be Vertigo Snails on their Big Leaf Maples, I’ll have to look but we were there to see the newly arrived Salmon. It is a really good viewing spot. What a wonderful gift Dr Joyce Clearihue gave to the community when she bought that land for the CRD, which made the Centre possible.

Pacific Sideband Snail Monadenia fidelis (Pul.: Bradybaenidae)  Rosemary Jorna

   Libby Avis sends photographs of two caterpillars from Cameron Lake, October 12.  The first looks quite like the Habrosyne scripta caterpillar shown on September 21, except that the white spots (mimcry of tachinid eggs?) are much lower down on the abdomen – they are usually on the thorax of H. scripta.  We suspect that Libby’s caterpillar may actually be Pseudothyatira cymatophoroides.

Pseudothyatira cymatophoroides (Lep.: Drepanidae – Thyatirinae)  Libby Avis

Pseudothyatira cymatophoroides (Lep.: Drepanidae – Thyatirinae)  Libby Avis

Pseudothyatira cymatophoroides (Lep.: Drepanidae – Thyatirinae)  Libby Avis

  Her second caterpillar has the black diamonds on the back which seem to be characterstic of Polia nimbosa.

 Polia nimbosa (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Libby Avis

Polia nimbosa (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Libby Avis

Polia nimbosa (Lep.: Noctuidae)   Libby Avis