Here are a few more insects photographed by Aziza Cooper during yesterday’s VNHS Butterfly Walk at McIntyre reservoir and Island View Beach.
Honey Bee Apis mellifera (Hym.: Apidae) Aziza Cooper
European Paper Wasp Polistes dominula (Hym.: Vespidae) Aziza Cooper
Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum (Odo.: Coenagrionidae) Aziza Cooper
Unknown geometrid caterpillar (Lep.: Geometridae) Aziza Cooper
It is on Rosa sp. (not R. nutkana which has straight spines).
Jeremy Tatum later took a close up of the caterpillar, which he is going to try to rear to adulthood, at which time we may know its identity. He writes: I think it highly probable that it is Eupithecia sp., and just possibly (but not at all certainly) E. maestosa.
Unknown geometrid caterpillar (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum
Six people participated in the Nature Victoria Butterfly Walk on September 7. The weather in Martindale was partly sunny and we saw three species of butterflies at Mcintyre Reservoir.
The copper and the skipper were the first non-Cabbage butterflies to be reported from our area to InvertSightings since August 25. The copper was a “lifer” for one of the participants – always an exciting event.
Purplish Copper Tharsalea helloides (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Aziza Cooper
At first glance, this was thought to be a female, but, writes Jeremy Tatum, it is possible that it is a male, without a purplish sheen, partly because it is a slightly worn specimen and partly because there was no strong sunshine. The female usually has a fairly sharply defined dark broad border. It has been noted more than once recently that this butterfly likes to nectar on Matricaria, such as Scentless Mayweed or, as here, Pineapple Weed.
Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Aziza Cooper
A few other insects were photographed during the Butterfly Walk. It is hoped to identify them and show them soon.
Val George photographed this moth on a garden fence at his Oak Bay house this morning, September 7:
Udea profundalis (Lep.: Crambidae) Val George
Jeremy Tatum photographed this moth at his Saanich apartment this morning, September 7:
Lesser Yellow Underwing Noctua comes (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum
Jeremy found this caterpillar on Grindelia at Island View Beach yesterday, August 6:
Butterfly Walk, September 7. Notice from Gordon Hart:
Our next walk is on Sunday, September 7. We will meet at 1 p.m. at the summit of Mount Tolmie at the parking lot by the reservoir. After a look around for butterflies, we will decide where to go from there. Car pooling is encouraged and we will try to be back by 4 p.m. Cancellations or special instructions will be posted on this site, or on the Nature Victoria calendar: https://naturevictoria.ca/events/
Jeremy Tatum photographed this moth near his Saanich apartment this morning.
Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa Jeremy Tatum
Butterfly Walk, September 7. Notice from Gordon Hart:
Our next walk is on Sunday, September 7. We will meet at 1 p.m. at the summit of MountTolmie at the parking lot by the reservoir. After a look around for butterflies, we will decide where to go from there. Car pooling is encouraged and we will try to be back by 4 p.m. Cancellations or special instructions will be posted on this site, or on the Nature Victoria calendar: https://naturevictoria.ca/events/
Jeremy Tatum writes: This moth flew into my Saanich apartment last night.
Lesser Yellow UnderwingNoctua comes(Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum
Here are some pictures obtained by Ian Cooper from Colquitz and View Royal last night. Thanks to Libby Avis for tracking down this difficult moth to one or other of two in the genus Homorthodes
Homorthodes communis /fractura (Lep.: Noctuidae) Ian Cooper
Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Ian Cooper
Drain Fly (Dip.: Psychodidae) Ian Cooper
Triangle web spider Hyptiotes gertschi (Ara.: Uloboridae) Ian Cooper
While there are still Cabbage White butterflies to be seen, no non-Cabbage butterflies have been reported to Invertebrate Sightings since August 25. Please let us know if you see any.
Jeff Gaskin reports seeing a couple of interesting dragonflies today. On September 2, there was a Common Green Darner in Esquimalt Gorge Park and on the same day there was a Black Saddlebags at Summit Park reservoir.
Here is another collection of creatures photographed by Ian Cooper in View Royal near the 9 km marker on Sunday evening, August 31.
Cybaeus (probably signifer) (Ara.: Cybaeidae) Ian Cooper
Callobius pictus (Ara.: Amaurobiidae) Ian Cooper
Dome Spider Possibly Neriene litigiosa (Ara.: Linyphiidae) Ian Cooper
Anyphaena aperta (Ara.: Anyphaenidae) Ian Cooper
Camel Cricket Pristoceuthophilus celatus (Orth.: Rhaphidophoridae) Ian Cooper
Leopard slug Limax maximus (Pul.: Limacidae) Ian Cooper
Here is a collection of Ian Cooper’s photographs of the miscellaneous often-unseen creatures at our feet.
Callobius pictus (Ara.: Amaurobiidae) and Orchesella cincta (Coll.: Orchesellidae) Ian Cooper The presence of the springtail shows how small the spider is.
Globose springtail Ian Cooper
Lauria cylindracea (Pul.: Lauriidae) Ian Cooper
Ian writes: One recurring scene I’ve encountered a couple of times recently are Dampwood Termites who are on the move, alive and still have their wings, but upon closer scrutiny, are missing their abdomens. I felt badly for the poor struggling termites I’ve seen in this condition. I have to assume these doomed critters had fallen prey to very recent attacks by ground beetles or Carpenter ants, as I’ve seen both of those predators dragging along captured Dampwood Termites in recent days.
Dampwood Termites with missing abdomens Ian Cooper
Here are some photographs taken by Ian Cooper on the evening of August 31 near the 9 km marker of the GG trail in View Royal.
Describing the first of these photographs, Ian writes: This photograph is one of multiple photos taken during a prolonged fight between two carpenter ants spotted by the edge of the GG trail. One ant was larger than the other, but not by much. They remained locked in battle for over five minutes. It was a bizarre scene to witness. Only when examining the photos and video of their struggle afterwards did I finally see what was keeping them so engaged with each other: Each ant had one of its appendages in the vice-like grip of its adversary’s powerful mandibles and neither was letting go as they flailed about in the detritus. The smaller ant had a firm grasp on the front right leg of the larger ant, who in turn had managed to grab onto one of its opponent’s antennae. I’ve never seen two ants of the same species fighting each other before and wonder if they may have been from rival colonies.
Western Black Carpenter Ants Camponotus modoc (Hym.: Formicidae) Ian Cooper
Red Carpenter Ant Camponotus vicinus (Hym.: Formicidae) Ian Cooper
Snail-eating Beetle Scaphinotus angusticollis (Col.: Carabidae) Ian Cooper
Ian writes: I’m starting to see these beetles more frequently. According to iNat, they’re most abundant in September – October.
Pterostichus sp. (Col.: Carabidae) Ian Cooper
Ian writes: These dark ground beetles are at present abundant by the trail. They generally flee when illuminated, which makes them hard to photograph. Occasionally I come across one that’s engrossed in eating something and doesn’t flee, which allows me to photograph it.
European Sowbug Oniscus asellus (Isopoda: Oniscidae) Ian Cooper
Unidentified nematoceran fly (Dip.: Nematocera) Ian Cooper
On the posting of August 27 evening, we showed a caterpillar found by Mike and Barb McGrenere, which, writes Jeremy Tatumj, I wasn’t sure was Schizura unicornis or S.ipomoeae. I am now “fairly sure” that it is the latter, although I may need to wait until the adult moth emerges next spring to be absolutely certain.
There have been some taxonomic and spelling changes for the three unicorn-like moths that I have seen in our area.
Old names: Schizura unicornis Schizura ipomoeae Oligocentria semirufescens
New names: Coelodasys unicornis Schizura ipomaeae Oedemasia semirufescens
S. ipomaeae is named after the Morning Glory flower, Ipomoea sp., and should have been spelled S. ipomoeae. However, in the original scientific description, it was misspelled S. ipomaeae, and so this is the spelling that has to be used for the scientific name of the moth. The moth has the English name Morning Glory Prominent.
A similar situation exists for the Bedstraw Hawk Moth Hyles gallii. It is named after the plants known as bedstraws Galium sp., and so the moth should be H. galii. However, it was misspelled gallii in the original scientific description, and so the spelling gallii stands for the moth.
There is a small difference between these two cases. Whereas the caterpillar of the Bedstraw Hawk Moth eagerly feeds on bedstraws, no one seems to know what connection (if any – probably none!) the Morning Glory Prominent has with the Morning Glory flower.
In order to help with the identification of Mike and Barb’s caterpillar, I took some close-up photographs – see below.
Probably Schizura ipomaeae (Lep.: Notodontidae) Jeremy Tatum
Probably Schizura ipomaeae (Lep.: Notodontidae) Jeremy Tatum
Probably Schizura ipomaeae (Lep.: Notodontidae) Jeremy Tatum
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