2025 June 1
Marie O’Shaughnessy visited Outerbridge Park on May 31. She saw there one Pale Tiger Swallowtail, one Western Tiger Swallowtail, and two Cabbage White butterflies. She also saw four Cardinal Meadowhawks, three Four-spotted Skimmers, and three California Darners.
Pale Tiger Swallowtail Pterourus eurymedon (Lep.: Papilionidae) Marie O’Shaughnessy
On May 30, Gordon Hart visited Whitehead Park, a small park at the north end of Prospect Lake, where there were several dragonflies and damsels flying over and landing on the lily pads.
He photographed this male Dot-tailed Whiteface (and a small fly, which we shall not try to identify, other than confirming the Order Diptera).
Dot-tailed Whiteface Leucorrhinia intacta (Odo.: Libellulidae) Gordon Hart
He also obtained the following interesting photograph, showing (on the right) an adult damselfly, and (to the left) an exuvia of a larval damselfly. Could it be that the adult damselfly on the right has just crawled out of its larval exuvia on the left?
Damselfly exuvia and adult damselfly. See text. Gordon Hart.
Dr Rob Cannings thinks this unlikely. For one thing, the damselfly (Western Forktail Ischnura perparva) looks like a quite mature specimen (notice how it is covered with a grey-white pruinescence), so it has not just emerged from its larval exuvia. The exuvia (of a damselfly of which we cannot be certain of the exact species) might possibly have been blown on to the lily leaf. Most damselfly larvae crawl up a vertical stem to make the transformation to an adult.
This morning, June 1, Jeremy Tatum saw his first Lorquin’s Admiral of the year, in Swan Creek Park, off Carey Road. This is far from an unusually early sighting. In the Invert Alerts for 2015 to 2024, five first sightings have been in May, the earliest being May 20 in 2016 and again in 2023. As we see below, another Lorquin’s Admiral was seen this afternoon during the June Monthly Butterfly Walk.
The Victoria NHS held its Monthly Butterfly Walk today. Asziza Cooper writes:
Today seven butterfly watchers started at Mount Tolmie and went to Rithet’s Bog.
We saw a total of six species. The weather was warm, sunny, and mostly calm.
Mt Tolmie:
Pale Tiger Swallowtail – 3
Western Tiger Swallowtail – 1
Lorquin’s Admiral – 1
Cabbage White – 3
Rithet’s Bog:
Western Spring Azure – 1
Western Tiger Swallowtail – 1
Satyr Comma – 1
A possible Sheep Moth flew by at Mount Tolmie reservoir.
Back at Mount Tolmie at the end of the day, Jeremy Tatum and Marie O’Shaughnessy saw a Red Admiral. Also today, June1, at Mount Douglas summit, Aziza saw two Red Admirals, one Painted Lady, one Anise Swallowtail, and one West Coast Lady.
A few photographs from today’s Butterfly Walk will appear in tomorrow morning’s Invertebrate Sightings posting.
Invert Sightings 