INVERTEBRATE ALERT
This blog provides an informal forum for terrestrial invertebrate watchers to post recent sightings of interesting observations in the southern Vancouver Island region. Please send your sightings by email to Jeremy Tatum (tatumjb352@gmail.com). Be sure to include your name, phone number, the species name (common or scientific) of the invertebrate you saw, location, date, and number of individuals. If you have a photograph you are willing to share, please send it along. Click on the title above for an index of past sightings.The index is updated most days.

June 6

2015 June 6

 

       Reminder – Monthly Butterfly walk tomorrow (Sunday).  Meet at the highway pulloff at Somenos Lake north of Duncan at 1:00 pm.  For further details, scroll down to the June 4 posting.

 

 

    Rosemary Jorna gave us a puzzler when she sent us a photograph of a curious insect that she spotted when she was on her way to Empress Mountain on June 1.  Thanks to Scott Gilmore who identified it as a jumping bristletail, a member of the little-known (little-known to me – Jeremy Tatum – that is!) Order Microcoryphia.   It’s a new Order for this site.

 

Jumping bristletail (Microcoryphia)  Rosemary Jorna

 

 

   She also sent us a picture of a young female Ladona julia (formerly Libellula julia) from Grassy Lake, June 1. Thanks to Rob Cannings for the identification.

 

 

Female Ladona julia . (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Rosemary Jorna

 

 

   Jeremy Tatum sends a picture of a tortricid identified by Eric LaGasa as a male

Choristoneura rosaceana.  Eric has been educating me on the importance of a costal fold near the basal end of the costa on male tortricids as an aid to identification.  The costal fold can be seen on this one (just!), showing that it is a male.

 

Choristoneura rosaceana (Lep.: Tortricidae)  Jeremy Tatum

 

 

   Scott Gilmore writes from Upper Lantzville:  Here are some of the sightings I had over the (May 30-31) weekend. Thanks to V. Belov for getting the featherwing beetle to genus.

 

Dichelotarsus melvillei (Col.:  Cantharidae) 

Prothalpia holmbergi (Col.:  Melandryidae) A new-to-me family called False Darkling Beetles

Thyanta pallidovirens (Hem.:  Pentatomoidea). A red-shouldered stinkbug

Ptenidium (Col.:  Ptilidae). Another featherwing beetle that flew past my nose in the backyard (about the only way I was going to see it!). I do not have an accurate measurement but it is a little under 1mm long.

 

Dichelotarsus melvillei (Col.:  Cantharidae)  Scott Gilmore

 

Prothalpia holmbergi (Col.:  Melandryidae) Scott Gilmore

 

 

Thyanta pallidovirens (Hem.:  Pentatomoidea)  Scott Gilmore

 

 

Ptenidium sp. (Col.:  Ptilidae).Scott Gilmore

 

 

 

 

 

    Many more pics tomorrow!  We still have a nice backlog!