2015 July 3

   Bill Katz sent a photo of a large beetle – and we assure viewers that the picture of the shoe was taken just for size comparison, and that the beetle was in no danger from it!  Beetle enthusiast Scott Gilmore comments:  My son and I were just drooling over the picture. Wow! What a stunning beetle! Not one I have ever seen but it sure looks like Prionus and the only member of that genus in BC is Prionus californicus. The California Root Borer. From the length of the antennae it must be a female. 

Prionus californicus (Col.: Cerambycidae)  Bill Katz

   I don’t know whether it made Scott drool further, although I am sure it must have pleased him when he writes:  A few nights ago I had a small beetle land on my arm as I was looking for insects at my CFL light. Vassili Belov was able to identify it as a Pleasing Fungus Beetle Cryptophilus integer, a species not previously recorded from BC. This beetle is often associated with stored products so it is not a surprising find.

Cryptophilus integer (Col.: Erotylidae) Scott Gilmore

   Jeff Gaskin writes: Yesterday, July 2, on Mt Tolmie just around 6 p.m. there were 4 Painted Ladies and with the Western Tiger Swallowtails I saw 2 Pale Swallowtails.

  Jeremy Tatum writes: Today, July 3, I visited Gordon and Anne-Marie Hart at their home in the Highlands.  We saw Red Admirals, Lorquin’s Admirals, Western Tiger Swallowtails, Pine Whites, Essex Skippers and a Sheep Moth in their garden.

  Barb McGrenere writes:  Today, Mike and I went to Km 14 along Nanaimo River Road to look for Dun Skipper and other butterflies.  After some searching, we found a small patch of Spreading Dogbane (almost finished flowering) where there were several Grey Hairstreaks, one or two Dun Skippers, a few European (Essex) Skippers and one Mylitta Crescent.  Also along the road were several Western Tiger Swallowtails, and a possible Clodius Parnassian (didn’t get a close look, it just flew by).

Grey Hairstreak Strymon melinus (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Barb McGrenere

Dun Skipper Euphyes vestris (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Barb McGrenere

Mylitta Crescent Phyciodes mylitta (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Barb McGrenere

   Jeremy Tatum writes: Cheryl Hoyle sends a picture of a small moth from View Royal.  Thanks to Scott Gilmore for identifying it after I made one of the most embarrassing misidentifications imaginable!  It’s a good thing that I can hide behind this computer terminal with no one to see me.

Oecogonia quadripuncta (Lep.: Symmocidae) Cheryl Hoyle