2017 April 21

   Steven Roias sends a picture of a micro moth photographed on his front porch on April 24.  We believe it is either Epinotia emarginana or E. solandriana.  These two species are both very variable, and Steven’s moth could fit either.

 Epinotia emarginana/solandriana (Lep.: Tortricidae – Olethreutinae)  Steven Roias

   The rather unappealing creature below is the maggot of a tachinid fly, which came from a pupa of a Pale Tiger Swallowtail, whose caterpillar was found last fall by Devon Parker.   The butterfly caterpillar and pupa were shown on this site for 2016 September 8 and 16.

Tachinid fly maggot  (Dip.:  Tachinidae)   Jeremy Tatum

Butterflies are still scarce, and Rosemary Jorna reports that, as of yesterday (April 20), she has still to see her first butterfly of the year.

But today, April 21, the Sun is out and it is warm, so a few butterflies are at last out.  Devon Parker reports that from Bear Hill he saw 4 Sara Orangetips, 4 Moss’s Elfins, and 2 Western Spring Azures on Bear Mountain. (He also saw a Western Spring Azure at Florence Lake on April 16.)  He writes that one of the Moss’s Elfins was nectaring on a Dandelion, and another on Claytonia parviflora. He notes that he has seen some Cabbage Whites from downtown Victoria to North Saanich in the last few days. Not far away on the Pathfinder Trail off Munn Road, Jeremy Tatum saw 6 Western Spring Azures, 7 Sara Orangetips, 5 Western Brown Elfins and 5 Moss’s Elfins (in 2.5 hours’ searching). All but the Western Brown Elfin were firsts-for-the-year for him. He notes that one of the Orangetips was nectaring on Dandelion!  He also saw a few Cabbage Whites from the car window on his way to Munn Road.

And even as I type, a message comes in from Nathan Fisk titled:  “What a day, Jeremy!”  So let’s see what Nathan has to report.  He says “The creatures have burst to life!  He saw Western Spring Azures, Sara Orange Tips and Cabbage Whites at Fort Rodd Hill, and he sends photographs of a Western Brown Elfin and a Satyr Comma.  I believe the latter is the first one reported to Invert Alert this year.

Western Brown Elfin Incisalisa iroides (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Nathan Fisk

 Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrus  (Lep.:  Nymphalidae)   Nathan Fisk

Rosemary Jorna sends a photograph of a beetle on Spring Gold on the top of Mount Wells yesterday, April 20.  Thanks to Charlene Wood for identifying it as a Soft-winged Flower Beetle, Listrus sp. of the Family Melyridae.  Need to have a close look at the naughty bits to be sure of the exact species.

 Listrus sp. (Col.: Melyridae)   Rosemary Jorna