2025 May 5 evening
Ian Cooper writes: Here are six pictures from my May 4th photo shoot along the Galloping Goose Trail in Saanich and View Royal.
Jeremy Tatum writes, of the first photograph below: Although it is not on any of its usual foodplants, I believe this is a caterpillar of the European Winter Moth, which has become lost.
Probably Winter Moth Operophtera brumata (Lep.: Geometridae)
Ian Cooper
Cabbage White Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae) Ian Cooper
Larva of Seven-spotted Lady Beetle – Coccinella septempunctata (Col.: Coccinellidae)
Ian Cooper
Adult Seven-spotted Lady Beetle – Coccinella septempunctata (Col.: Coccinellidae)
Ian Cooper
Picture-winged fly – Chaetopsis fulvifrons (Dip.: Ulidiidae)
Ian Cooper
Ancistrocerus/Euodynerus (Hym.: Vespidae – Eumeninae)
Ian Cooper
Jeremy Tatum writes: This is a potter/mason wasp of the subfamily Eumeninae. iNaturalist suggests Euodynerus foraminatus. Our Claudia Copley suggests Ancistrocerus sp. I looked up several images in both genera, and it seemed to me that the best fit was Ancistrocerus nigricornis – but that’s a European species that doesn’t seem to have been recorded in North America. But maybe that’s what it is? For the present we’ll have to admit that, at present, we cannot be 100 percent sure of the exact species.
Marie O’Shaughnessy writes: I was delighted to find a Grey Hairstreak among the grass along the berm at Maber Flats . Photo taken by my old cell phone so not good. There were also three Western Spring Azures , and 7 Cabbage Whites .
Over the past month if my observations are correct, Cabbage Whites seem especially abundant in places such as Outerbridge Park, and Martindale Flats along with Western Spring Azures.
I did manage to find as many as 4 California Tortoiseshells at the top of Mount Tolmie, middle of April . Also met Aziza, May 1st at this location and enjoyed another California Tortoiseshell Finally I found 2 Sara Orangetips at the top parking lot of Mount Douglas April 25th. I was thrilled to find my first California Darner sighting, four of them, at Outerbridge Park May 1st. A pair were mating. Two more were seen same day at McIntyre Reservoir. There was one California Darner at Maber Flats May 4th.
Grey Hairsteak Strymon melinus (Lep.: Lycaenidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy
California Darners Rhionaeschna californica (Odo.: Aeshnidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy
Jeremy Tatum writes: I think I must, at some time, have mentioned on this site that it is a help, towards identifying aeshnid dragonflies, to get a close-up lateral shot of the thorax, in order to see the shapes of the thoracic stripes. Marie seems to have taken this to heart.
Invert Sightings 