2017 August 26

 

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I have had exactly the same experience as Annie Pang (see August 25 posting) – for weeks I have had no moths at my back door in Saanich, when suddenly, in the space of a few days, Annie and I both get a Neoalcis californiaria!

 

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

 

   And no sooner had I written the above, when Dar Churcher sent in a photograph of yet another one in Colwood:

 

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae)  Dar Churcher

 

   Dar also sends a photograph of a “small brown job” from Colwood, August 18.  This is a tough one, and I often give up on pugs, but I think I’ll stick my neck out and call it Eupithecia unicolor (a misnomer if ever there was one –  it’s one of the few pugs with obviously two colours!)

 

Eupithecia unicolor (Lep.: Geometridae)  Dar Churcher

 

   Dar also sends a photograph of a moth from her fir hedge on July 3.  I can’t identify it for sure, but I believe it may be Choristoneura freemani.   There are probably some forestry experts on this species around somewhere – we’d be glad to hear from one.

 

Possibly Choristoneura freemani (Lep.: Tortricidae)  Dar Churcher

 

 

   Dar Churcher sends a photograph of a small caterpillar found on an amaryllis plant.  It is a “micro”, and I don’t think I can identify it.  Funnily enough it looks not unlike the caterpillar of Choristoneura freemani – though amaryllis is quite the wrong foodplant!       Dar asks: Is that a parasitic worm visible inside the lower half of the body?  Jeremy writes:  It is not a tachinid or hymenopterous parasitoid.  I am not expert on the insides of caterpillars, but I think the wiggly thing (not a very technical term!) is probably part of the caterpillar’s digestive tract.

 

 

 

 

Unidentified “micro” moth caterpillar (Lepidoptera)  Dar Churcher

 

 

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  At McIntyre reservoir today, there were still uncountable numbers of Cabbage Whites there and in the adjacent cabbage fields.  The only other butterflies I saw there were a single Woodland Skipper and a single fresh-looking Painted Lady.  A few days ago I saw a recently-vacated nest of a Painted Lady caterpillar on a thistle in that area.   This evening at 6:00 pm I saw three Painted Ladies at the top of Christmas Hill.  Although very worn, they were still flying strongly.

 

 There are a few more photographs in the queue.  Shall try to post tomorrow.