2025 July 11 evening

   JeremyTatum writes:  I saw a pristine-fresh Satyr Comma this afternoon along the Lochside Trail between Lohbrunners and Blenkinsop Lake.  I think it is probably not the one that I released there on June 25.

2025 July 11 morning

   Val George writes:  There was an American Lady at the summit of Mount Douglas yesterday afternoon, July 10. Also at the summit were at least two Painted Ladies, two Anise Swallowtails and a Red Admiral.

American Lady  Vanessa virginiensis  (Lep.: Nymphalidae) 
Val George

Anise Swallowtail  Papilio zelicaon  (Lep.: Papilionidae)   Val George

2025 July 10

  Janet Malouf sends a photograph of a Common Emerald moth at Ten-mile Point today:

Common Emerald Hemithea aestivaria  (Lep.: Geometridae)
 Janet Malouf

   Aziza Cooper writes:  These three dragonflies were at the Goldstream campground RR tracks on July 3.

Male Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)   Aziza Cooper

Female Western Pondhawk  Erythemis collocata 
(Odo.:  Libellulidae) 
  Aziza Cooper

Male Eight-spotted Skimmer Libellula forensis 
(Odo.: Libdellulidae) 
Aziza Cooper

2025 July 9

   Jacob Palfrey found and photographed a mating pair of robber flies on Obsevartory Hill (Little Saanich Mountain) on July 1.   We thank Dr Rob Cannings for their identification.

Pogonosoma ridingsi  (Dip.: Asilidae)   Jacob Palfrey

Pogonosoma ridingsi  (Dip.: Asilidae)   Jacob Palfrey

 

  Val George writes:  These two moths (Choristoneura rosaceana and Emmelina monodactyla) were on the wall of my Oak Bay house this morning, July 9.

Choristoneura rosaceana  (Lep.: Tortricidae)  Val George

Emmelina monodactyla  (Lep.: Pterophoridae)  Val George

2025 July 8 morning

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  This moth emerged yesterday, having been reared from a caterpillar feeding upon young leaves of Salal Gaultheria shallon.   Although I am not absolutely certain of its identity, it does seem to bear a good resemblance to Eupithecia annulata.  I don’t know of any other pug that has that combination of a prominent discal spot plus a conspicuous white zigzag submarginal line, plus many other small details.

Probably Eupithecia annulata  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

2025 July 7 evening

   Gordon Hart writes:   There were ten participants on Sunday’s Butterfly Walk, starting at Mount Tolmie, where we saw several swallowtails, perhaps three Pale Tiger Swallowtails and at least one Western Tiger Swallowtail. There were about four Lorquin’s Admirals and six Cabbage Whites. Our next stop was at the McIntyre Reservoir, where we saw only a few Cabbage Whites, and many dragonflies of several species: Black Saddlebags, including a mating pair in flight, Eight-spotted Skimmer, Cardinal Meadowhawk, Western Pondhawk, Blue Dasher and several damselflies.

  Our next stop was Island View Beach, where we saw about five Lorquin’s Admirals, several Cabbage Whites, and many Essex Skippers. I lost count at 26!  One of the skippers was of the form “pallida”.

  We also saw a Woodland Skipper, the first of the year;  this species flies later in the year than the Essex Skipper.

  Many individuals of a tortricid moth Acleris albicomana were seen on and around the rose bushes. 

Female Western Pondhawk  Erythemis collocata 
(Odo.: Libellulidae)  
Gordon Hart

Male Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Gordon Hart

Male Cardinal Meadowhawk  Sympetrum illotum 
(Odo.: Libellulidae) 
Gordon Hart

Tule Bluets Enallagma carunculatum  (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)  Gordon Hart

Male Eight-spotted Skimmer Libellula forensis  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Gordon Hart

Male Blue-eyed Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor 
(Odo.: Aeshnidae)
Gordon Hart

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola  (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Gordon Hart

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola  f. “pallida”  (Lep.: Hesperiidae)  Gordon Hart

Acleris albicomana  (Lep.: Tortricidae)  Gordon Hart

2025 July 7 morning

We hope to post an account of yesterday’s Butterfly Walk this evening.

   Sher Falls sends a photograph of a pair of Cabbage Whites from her Nanaimo garden, nicely showing the difference between the sexes.

Male (L) and female (R) Cabbage Whites Pieris rapae
(Lep.: Pieridae)
  Sher Falls

   Also from her garden, a beetle, kindly identified for us by Scott Gilmore.  The beetle is just taking off, and its hind (flying) wings have not yet fully unfolded.

Xestoleptura sp. (Col.: Cerambycidae) Sher Falls

   Ian Cooper sends a selection of pictures taken just before dawn on the morning of July 06 by the Galloping Goose in View Royal.

Reticulate Taildropper  Prophysaon andersonii (Pul.: Arionidae)    Ian Cooper

Rugathodes sexpunctatus (Ara.: Theridiidae)   Ian Cooper

Male Dwarf Spider  Agyneta sp. (Ara.: Linyphiidae)   Ian Cooper

Crane Fly  (Dip.: Tipulidae)   Ian Cooper

Ceratogalia gueneata  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Ian Cooper

Psyllobora borealis (Col.: Coccinellidae)   Ian Cooper

  Aziza Cooper writes:   Yesterday, July 6, at Cowichan Station there were:

Western Tiger Swallowtail – 2
Pale Tiger Swallowtail – 1
Cabbage White – 8
Margined White – 2
Satyr Comma – 1
Essex Skipper – 10+

Margined White  Pieris marginalis  (Lep.: Pieridae)   Aziza Cooper

Margined White  Pieris marginalis  (Lep.: Pieridae)   Aziza Cooper

2025 July 6 morning

  Monthly Butterfly Walk, Sunday July 6

  As usual, we shall gather in the small parking lot next to the reservoir at the top of Mount Tolmie at 1:00 pm on Sunday July 6.  We’ll have a quick look to see what butterflies we can see there, and then we shall discuss amongst ourselves and decide on a location to go to from there.   Depending upon numbers, we may be able to car-pool. We’ll return to Mount Tolmie in the late afternoon, probably around 4:00 pm, at which time a number of hill-topping butterflies are often flying around or resting on the reservoir.   All are welcome, whether seasoned butterfly-seekers, or newcomers wanting to learn some of our local butterflies.

   This gracillariid moth was at Jeremy Tatum’s Saanich apartment building this morning. 

(Lep.: Gracillariidae) JeremyTatum

2025 July 5

  Monthly Butterfly Walk, Sunday July 6

  As usual, we shall gather in the small parking lot next to the reservoir at the top of Mount Tolmie at 1:00 pm on Sunday July 6.  We’ll have a quick look to see what butterflies we can see there, and then we shall discuss amongst ourselves and decide on a location to go to from there.   Depending upon numbers, we may be able to car-pool. We’ll return to Mount Tolmie in the late afternoon, probably around 4:00 pm, at which time a number of hill-topping butterflies are often flying around or resting on the reservoir.   All are welcome, whether seasoned butterfly-seekers, or newcomers wanting to learn some of our local butterflies.

2025 July 4

   Here are some photographs by Ian Cooper of creatures found at View Royal overnight – July 4.

Weevil – Dyslobus decoratus (Col.: Curculionidae)   Ian Coope

Rove beetle – Quedius sp. (Col.: Staphylinidae)   Ian Cooper

Western Black Carpenter Ant  Camponotus modoc 
(Hym.: Formicidae)  
Ian Cooper

Plant bug  (Hem.: Miridae)   Ian Cooper

Predatory Fungus Gnat  Macrocera sp. (Dip.: Keroplatidae)  
Ian Cooper

Callobius pictus (Ara.: Amaurobiidae)   Ian Cooper