2017 April 22

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Yesterday at Munn Road I saw large numbers of Mesoleuca gratulata, including one compact (wing-to-wing) group of about 20 of them mud-puddling together, just as we often see Western Spring Azures do.  It was a very pretty sight.  Although it’s a geometrid moth, it almost deserves to be given an honorary title of butterfly.  I also saw quite a few Epirrhoe plebeculata, and even two Leptostales rubromarginaria.

   The caterpillar of gratulata is well-known —  it feeds on Rubus.  The caterpillars and foodplants of the other two species are apparently not known.  Galium has been suggested for plebeculata, and Prunus has been suggested for rubromarginaria, but I think both of these are almost certainly quite wrong.  It may be difficult to find rubromarginaria ovipositing, but it is surely only a matter of time before one of us spots plebeculata doing so.  This is the time of year, so please do try hard and watch this moth, and let us know what it lays its eggs on. And if you find an egg, I would be very happy to rear the caterpillar.  The moth is the little day-flying geometrid with orange hindwings that you see flying along with M. gratulata at this time of year.  It has been photographed several tines on this site – most recently by Mike Yip 2016 April 20 (at present on page 46) and by Gordon Hart 2016 March 31 (at present on page 50).

   Gordon Hart drew blank for butterflies yesterday at Maber Flats, but he saw 9 Sara Orangetips on Observatory Hill, and 4 Cabbage Whites and a Sara Orangetip at Panama Flats.

  Yesterday, Nathan Fisk photographed the spider below.  Thanks to Robb Bennett for telling us that it is Cyclosa conica.  He writes that the vertical “trash line” in the web is characteristic.

Cyclosa conica (Ara.: Araneidae)  Nathan Fisk