2015 June 10

    Reminder:  Metchosin Bioblitz this coming Friday and Saturday, June 12 – 13.  See the Website:   www.metchosinbiodiversity.com

    Message from Aziza Cooper:  Hi, butterfliers, On the website for the WA butterfly conference (scroll down to June 4 for details) is a link to a new field guide to butterflies of Okanogan County. This is at present a 20 page quick reference which is sent digitally and also in print. The author is planning a book to be published next year.

http://wabutterflyassoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Caitlin-OCFG-AdFlyer.pdf

Many (most?) of these butterflies will also occur north of the border, so the field guide could be very useful on a butterfly trip to the interior.

   Gordon Hart sends a photograph of an Eight-spotted Skimmer.

   Ken Vaughan writes:      I was out to the ponds again on June 8. Lots and lots of odes out. I  was amazed at how many there were. Many Dot-tailed Whitefaces and
Four-spotted Skimmers, a couple of American Emeralds, a few Blue-eyed
Darners, the odd late California Darner, a single Common Green Darner
male (sorry, no picture, only saw him once, the competition was fierce
on the shore), a single Cardinal Meadowhawk, and first-of-year Western Pondwhawks:   I saw one mature male, two mature females (one ovipositing), and one
teneral male also three male and two female Eight-spotted Skimmers. And the usual abundant amount of damselflies.  (Thanks to Rob Cannings for confirmation of the identities of the two below – Jeremy)

Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor (Odo.: Aeshnidae)  Ken Vaughan

Western Pondhawk Erythemis collocata (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Ken Vaughan

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  If you look on the English Hawthorns at Swan Lake just now you will see some of them covered with masses of silk webbing.  Inside the webbing you may be able to see some small black-spotted grey caterpillars.  These are Yponomeuta padella (Lep.: Yponomeutidae).  He continues:  There are many Red Admiral caterpillars on the nettles at Bow Park.  We should have a bumber crop of Red Admiral butterflies later this year.

  Here is a photograph of the chrysalis of a Western Brown Elfin.

Western Brown Elfin Incisalia iroides (Lep.: Lycaenidae)  Jeremy Tatum

 Nathan Fisk writes:  I found this beautiful little critter munching on Ocean Spray buds.

Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Nathan Fisk

    Jeremy Tatum writes:  I think I have at last caught up after a wonderfully exciting week.  If you have sent in a photograph or observation or other contribution in the last few days and I appear to have missed it – let me know.