August 31
Terry Thormin writes: I spent a couple of hours at Cumberland Marsh yesterday. What was most interesting was the number of nymphs of green stink bugs, Chlorochroa sp. on the Tansies. Once I started looking amongst and underneath the flowers they were everywhere. I also saw a few brown stink bugs of the species Euschistus conspersus. Not surprising then was the tachinid fly Cylindromyia sp. which is a parasitoid on stink bugs and seemed to be actively searching the flowers, probably looking for a stink bug host. Another tachinid fly, Tachina sp. was visiting the flowers, but seemed to be nectaring. I also saw a single green lacewing larva after not having seen a single adult all summer long. Finally was this pair of mating flower flies, Sphaerophoria sp.
Green stink bug nymph Chlorochroa sp. (Hemip.: Pentatomidae) Terry Thormin
Brown stink bug Euschistus conspersus (Hemip.: Pentatomidae) Terry Thormin
Tachinid fly Cylindromyia sp. (Dip.: Tachinidae) Terry Thormin
Tachinid fly Tachina sp. (Dip.: Tachinidae) Terry Thormin
Green lacewing larva (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) Terry Thormin
Flower Fly Sphaerophoria sp. (Dip.: Syrphidae) Terry Thormin
August 30
Terry Thormin writes: I went out to Little River Pond on Saturday, August 28th. With the cooler weather things are really slowing down. Only a few dragonflies compared to earlier days and practically nothing new. I did see a couple of pygmy grasshoppers and managed to photograph one. This is a fully adult grasshopper and only 11 mm long from head to the tip of the wings. I generally see the adults late in the fall and early in the spring as they spend the winter as adults or nymphs rather than as eggs as most grasshoppers do.
Pygmy Grasshopper (Orth.: Tetrigidae) Terry Thormin
August 27
Terry Thormin writes: What with the cooler weather lately insects have been rather scarce. I am also starting to see the occasional Western Conifer Seed Bugs, Leptoglossus occidentalis on the walls of the house, a good indication that fall is just around the corner. I did manage to get out to Cumberland Marsh for a couple of hours on August 24th, and here are three photos from that trip. The first is a flower fly, Helophilus sp. which I have as yet been unable to get identified to species. The second is a bee fly, probably in the genus Villa, but I have sent it to Bugguide to hopefully confirm this. Finally is a photo of the small flower fly, Eristalis arbustorum. I have been seeing these in small numbers for the last few weeks and in fact posted a photo of one earlier from July 18th.
Flower Fly Helophilus sp. (Dip.: Syrphidae) Terry Thormin
Bee Fly probably Villa sp. (Dip.: Bombyliidae) Terry Thormin
Flower Fly Eristalis arbustorum (Dip.: Syrphidae) Terry Thormin
August 23
Annie Pang sends in a photo of a small spider wasp, Pompilidae, that had landed on her hand. Annie, I don't know how you do it. I never get these wasps landing on me. In fact, they usually are long gone well before I get close enough to take a photo.
Terry Thormin sends in five recent photos and writes: The little spider wasp, family Pompilidae, is probably the same species as in the photograph that Annie Pang just submitted. I had to work hard for this one and the only reason I got it was because the wasp had caught a wolf spider to feed its young. I chased the wasp off the spider then focused on the spider and waited for the wasp to come back for it. It still took quite a few tries before I finally got this photo. Fortunately the wasp was persistent. The second photo is of the Cranberry Girdler, Chrysoteuchia topiaria. Both photos were taken on August 21st at Little River Pond. The next photo of the Tule Bluet, Enallagma carunculatum was taken the following day at the same place. The final two photos were taken on August 23rd in my yard in Comox. Both were on the outside wall and were probably attracted by the lights in the evening. The brown lacewing, family Hemerobiidae, is generally less often encountered than the similar but differently coloured green lacewings. The Brownlined Looper, Neoalcis californiaria,
feeds on a variety of broadleaf and coniferous trees and shrubs, but shows a preference for Douglas Fir.
Spider wasp (Hym.: Pompilidae) Annie Pang
Spider wasp with wolf spider (Hym.: Pompilidae) Terry Thormin
Cranberry Girdler Chrysoteuchia topiaria (Lep.: Crambidae) Terry Thormin
Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) Terry Thormin
Brown lacewing (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) Terry Thormin
Brownlined Looper Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Terry Thormin
August 18
Jeremy Tatum writes: The noctuid moth shown is the Girdler Moth that arose from the caterpillar shown on July 22. It is one of the most strikingly-marked and instantly-recognizable of the noctuid moths. The caterpillar feeds on grasses.
I found the pupa shown on a dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) leaf yesterday, and the moth emerged today. I believe that the moth is, with high probability, Emmelina monodactyla, although usually this species is much paler a sort of off-white. If my identification is correct, this is a much richer reddish-brown colour than usual. The caterpillar feeds on the flowers of Calystegia (known variously as bindweed, morning glory or convolvulus), and the occurrence of the pupa on dogwood was merely the result of the caterpillars wandering. The shape of the wings reminds me of the shape of one of the German First World War monoplanes I can't remember which. Can someone help?
Terry Thormin writes: On August 17th I had my best day of the year at Cumberland Marsh. There was lots of insect activity, at least compared to previous days, and I saw a number of new species. Unfortunately it was already quite warm by the time I got there, and things were very active and difficult to photograph. I saw a total of five species of butterflies, including Cabbage White, Pine White, Woodland Skipper, Common Wood Nymph and an unidentified fritillary Speyeria sp. I did get photographs of a few new things, including the Longhorned Beetle, Leptura obliterata, the Halictid Bee, Lasioglossum zonulum, a Yellow-striped Grasshopper, Melanoplus bivitattus, and a tiny Flower Fly, Sphaerophoria sp.
Girdler Moth Dargida procincta (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum
Pupa of Emmelina monodactyla (Lep.: Pterophoridae) Jeremy Tatum
Emmelina mondactyla (Lep.: Pterophoridae) Jeremy Tatum
Longhorned Beetle Leptura obliterata (Col.: Cerambycidae) Terry Thormin
Halictid Bee Lasioglossum zonulum (Hym.: Halictidae) Terry Thormin
Yellow-striped Grasshopper Melanoplus bivitattus (Orth.: Acrididae) Terry Thormin
Flower Fly Sphaerophoria sp. (Dip.: Syrphidae) Terry Thormin
August 17
Annie Pang sends in four photos accompanied by her wonderful poetry. The first three, a Cabbage White, Woodland Skipper and female Eight-spotted Skimmer, were all photographed at Glendale Gardens. The final insect is Ophion sp., an Ichneumonid wasp that Annie photographed in her own kitchen on August 15th. I believe that this is the first report of one of these wasps this year. Ichneumon wasps in the genus Ophion are all nocturnal fliers and are often attracted to lights. Annie, I'll bet you left your window open and light on.
Cabbage White Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae) Annie Pang
Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Annie Pang
Eight-spotted Skimmer Libellula forensis (Odonata: Libellulidae) Annie Pang
Ichneumon Wasp Ophion sp. (Hym.: Ichneumonidae) Annie Pang
August 16
Terry Thormin writes: Another trip to Little River Pond on August 15th produced a new dragonfly, Sympetrum vicinum, the Autumn Meadowhawk. As the name implies this is a late emerging dragonfly, flying from early July to mid November. The individual I photographed was a female which shows the distinctive scoop-shaped subgenital plate on the under surface of the abdomen near the tip. I have now recorded thirteen species of dragonflies at Little River Pond.
Autumn Meadowhawk Sympetrum vicinum (Odonata: Libellulidae) Terry Thormin
August 15
Terry Thormin writes: I went to Cumberland Marsh on August 12 and saw and photographed a few interesting things. The Pine White, Neophasia menapia was my first for the year. At the same time I saw many (probably over 50) Woodland Skippers, so that was encouraging. There were also good numbers of dragonflies, including a number of darners that were probably mostly Blue-eyed Darners, Four-spotted Skimmers and at least one White-faced Meadowhawk, Sympetrum obtrusum. I had actually photographed a female of this species back on July 24th, but misidentified it as a Black Meadowhawk. When I got the photo of the male I put two and two together and realized what the female was. I have also included a photo of a new ichneumonid wasp and a photo of a quite small tachinid fly, Phasia sp.
Annie Pang writes: A little friend came to visit me at home here and landed on a bag very conveniently so I got a shot. Can you identify it and let me know what it is? Shot was taken August 14, 2010 at our home in the Gorge/Tillicum area late at night. Well, the genus is easy it is Udea. The family and the species are not so easy. It was for a long time in the family Pyralidae, but a large section of that family has now been given full family status as Crambidae. The genus has many species of very variable moths, but Annie's is either U. rubigalis or U. profundalis. If any viewer can tell for certain, please do let us know. The caterpillar of either has been given the name in horticultural circles the Celery Leaf-tier, although here the caterpillar is commonly found on Stinging Nettle. Jeremy Tatum.
Pine White Neophasia menapia (Lep.: Pieridae) Terry Thormin
White-faced Meadowhawk Sympetrum obtrusum (Odon.: Libellulidae) Terry Thormin
Ichneumon wasp (Hym.: Ichneumonidae) Terry Thormin
Tachinid fly Phasia sp. (Dip.: Tachinidae) Terry Thormin
Udea sp. (rubigalis or profundalis) (Lep.: Crambidae) Annie Pang
August 14
Gordon Hart sends a photo of a huge beetle from his garden in the Highlands District, August 11. Terry Thormin writes: Well, I can tell you that this is Prionus sp., but I can't take it any further.
There are 2 species of Prionus in B.C., P. californicus and P. lecontei, although I am not sure if they both occur on the Island. I do know from Bugguide that they can be separated by counting antennal segments; one has 12 and the other has 13. Unfortunately you cannot see how many antennal segments this one has in the photo.
Prionus sp. (Col.: Cerambycidae Prioninae) Gordon Hart
Aug 13
Jeremy Tatum sends news of two babies. The egg of the kitten moth Furcula scolopendrina hatched on August 11. The caterpillar has two long tails on the anal segment. When it is disturbed, it will raise these two tails up and forward over its body, and a little worm-like process will come out of each tail and wriggle about, and a sickly-sweet smell is emanated at the same time. The baby Western Tiger Swallowtail shown on July 26 is now a good deal larger and has changed colour, but still has some way to go. Like Furcula scolopendrina, it, too, can extrude a little coloured process (called an osmeterium) and a sweet smell when it is disturbed, though the swallowtail's is protruded from behind its head rather than from the tail. I'm too good-mannered to disturb either caterpillar just to photograph these organs. Both caterpillars are feeding on willow.
Terry Thormin writes: I picked this moth up in the car somewhere in the Courtenay/Comox area on August 10th. It does look very much like a specimen of the Western Black-headed Budworm, Acleris gloverana shown in Powell and Opler, a highly polymorphic species that can be a serious pest on fir, Douglas fir and hemlock.
Gordon Hart sends a spectacular photo of a hawk moth taken in his Garden in the Highlands area on July 22. Jeremy Tatum writes: This is very exciting indeed. I can't tell whether it is Sphinx vashti (which I haven't seen for many years) or Sphinx perelegans (which I have never seen locally), though I'm leaning very slightly towards the latter. If any viewer thinks he or she can identify it with certainty, please do let us know.
Furcula scolopendrina (Lep.: Notodontidae) Jeremy Tatum
Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus (Lep.: Papilionidae) Jeremy Tatum
Western Black-headed Budworm Acleris gloverana (Lep.: Tortricidae) Terry Thormin
Sphinx sp. (Lep.: Sphingidae) Gordon Hart
August 12
Gordon Hart sends two photos of the Mylitta Crescent from the Highlands area of greater Victoria, one taken on June 5 and one on August 2.
Jeremy Tatum writes: A friend of mine was showing off her vegetable garden to me in Victoria yesterday, and she asked me if I would like some vegetables. I said, yes, please, I'd like this particularly interesting cabbage leaf. So I took the leaf home and photographed part of it and the egg of the Cabbage White butterfly that was attached to it.
Mylitta Crescent Phyciodes mylitta (Lep.: Nymphalidae) June 5 Gordon Hart
Mylitta Crescent Phyciodes mylitta (Lep.: Nymphalidae) August 2 Gordon Hart
Egg of Cabbage White Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae) Jeremy Tatum
August 10
Here is a baby Lorquin's Admiral caterpillar, found at Kings Pond, Saanich, yesterday. It is in its second instar and about 3 mm long. They can be found at the tips of leaves of Willow, Crabapple, Ocean Spray and Hardhack. The young caterpillar eats a little bit of the tip of a leaf on both sides of the midrib, and leaves the end of the midrib, on which it rests. Once you have seen one and know what to look for, they are easy to spot, even though they are tiny. Soon, it will make a little cylindrical tube from a fragment of leaf and fix it firmly to the petiole with silk, and it will pass the winter in this little hibernaculum, and resume feeding in the spring.
Young Lorquin's Admiral caterpillar Limenitis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Jeremy Tatum
August 8
Jeremy Tatum sends a photo of a Silver-spotted Tiger Moth, found near Mount Tolmie today. Caterpillars of this species starred in the entries for April 19 and 27. It is what most of us would recognize as an Arctiid, but the family Arctiidae has just recently been sunk to the sub-family Arctiinae, and the family name is now Erebidae
Terry Thormin writes: I found this male ichneumonid wasp today at Little River Pond by following the female. I never did catch up to the female after she led me to the male. The male is one of the larger ichneumonids, measuring 19mm., but identification will have to wait until I get some feedback from Bugguide. The fly was photographed in my backyard on July 6th. Having no idea even what family it belonged to, I finally just recently submitted it to Bugguide and those who looked at it got quite excited. I got an answer back today that it is Pseudoerinna jonesi, and according to Keith Bayless, who confirmed the identification, this is a very rare fly. When you consider that it was in my 24 X 18 townhouse backyard then it certainly was a very good find, even if a rather ordinary looking fly.
Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentata (Lep.: Erebidae) Jeremy Tatum
Ichneumonid wasp (Hym.: Ichneumonidae) Terry Thormin
Pseudoerinna jonesi (Dip.: Pelecorhynchidae) Terry Thormin
August 7
Jeremy Tatum writes: I found this caterpillar of Nycteola cinereana in View Royal yesterday. Viewers who enjoy playing Spot The Difference might like to compare this with its closely related congener Nycteola frigidana shown on July 22. Both species have long, sparse, white hairs.
The other caterpillar shown is Cucullia montanae, on Gumweed, from Albert Head Lagoon yesterday. In Britain, moths of the genus Cucullia are popularly known as sharks. When I was a young man, I was kneeling in the middle of a field with a flashlight in the middle of the night in a London suburb, wearing a mask over my face (to protect me from hayfever), and a policeman came up and said: Ullo, ullo. ullo! And wot do you think you are doin' 'ere in the middle of the night? I replied: I'm looking for sharks, Officer. The policeman fled in terror.
Terry Thormin writes: A short trip to Cumberland Marsh on August 6th produced a few interesting insects. Two butterflies, the Woodland Skipper, Ochlodes sylvanoides, and the Mylitta Crescent, Phyciodes mylitta were both new for the year for me. While there were a number of the skippers, I only saw a single crescent.
The other three were also firsts for the year. The little deer fly, Chrysops sp., was trying to make a meal out of me, and I had to let it succeed to be able to get the photo. It is too bad these things are such nasty biters, because they sure are beautiful. The plant bug, Prepops bivittis was just a single individual, as was the bee fly, Villa sp. Everything, except the deer fly, was nectaring on common tansy, or in the case of the plant bug, just sucking the juices.
Nycteola cinereana (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum
Cucullia montanae (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum
Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Terry Thormin
Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Terry Thormin
Mylitta Crescent Phyciodes mylitta (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Terry Thormin
Deer Fly Chrysops sp. (Dip.: Tabanidae) Terry Thormin
Plant Bug Prepops bivittis (Hem.: Miridae) Terry Thormin
Bee fly Villa sp. (Dip.: Bombyliidae) Terry Thormin
August 6
Annie Pang writes: On July 16th, John and I were on Mt. Tolmie looking for Painted Ladies (a butterfly usually seen more often than this last summer so far, at least for me) after being told there were some to be found there. However, I had really been coveting finding a Red Admiral and had totally given up. No sightings of the Red Admiral had been reported and no Painted Ladies awaited me on the two occasions I went looking for them on Tolmie. I was about to leave while standing in front of some blackberry bushes at the summit when suddenly a Red Admiral just landed right in front of my face! I was so very excited, and got several pictures before it said good bye and disappeared.
Jeremy Tatum writes: I, too, was excited by a Red Admiral this morning. The butterfly that grew from the caterpillar illustrated on July 22 emerged today. They have been so scarce this year. Another to emerge today was the Nycteola frigidana moth from the caterpillar illustrated on July 22 and cocoon on July 23.
Terry Thormin writes: I got an answer back on the mite and it turns out the photo was too out of focus to be able to determine the family with certainty. It is in the order Mesostigmata, and most likely in the family Macrochelidae, but we will never know for sure. I also found a swarm of tiny ichneumonid wasps flying around one of my plants in the backyard, undoubtedly looking for caterpillars to use as hosts. I am hoping that the preferred host is the caterpillar of Gracillaria syringella, the little gracillariid moth that infested my lilac bush this summer. It was an effort to get a photo as the wasps are only 3mm long and were very active on the rare occasions that they landed. Ive submitted the wasp photo to Bugguide so this is another insect that I will hopefully get some feedback on.
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Annie Pang
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Annie Pang
Nycteola frigidana (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum
Ichneumonid wasp (Hym.: Ichneumonidae) Terry Thormin
August 5
Terry Thormin writes: My little backyard fountain is producing a few interesting insects. On August 1st I found a small tortricid swimming in it. I fished it out and allowed it to dry off before taking some photos. This was one that Jeremy was unfamiliar with so I sent it to Altaleps, a group of moth experts and enthusiasts based in Alberta, and got a reply back that it is the Yellowheaded Fireworm, Acleris minuta. On August 4th it was an unidentified clown beetle, Histeridae that was doing the breaststroke. It is a good thing that I dont keep the pump going all the time. Notice the mite on the back end of the clown beetle. I have sent the photo to a friend in Edmonton who is a mite expert and hopefully will get it identified at least to family. More on this too follow.
Yellowheaded Fireworm Acleris minuta (Lep.: Tortricidae) Terry Thormin
Clown beetle (Col.: Histeridae) Terry Thormin
August 4
Terry Thormin writes: A couple of new insects to report from July 31st at Little River Pond. I had at least two little square-headed wasps, Crabro latipes flying around and landing on a low bush near the edge of the pond. Both were males with the large plate-like expansions on the front tibia. These plates are used to cover the females eyes during the mating process. Each species has a distinctive pattern on the plates and it is assumed that the purpose is to ensure that the female mates with a male of the correct species. This also makes it easy for species identification by us humans. The male wasps are about 10 mm long, but the females, which I have never found, are larger. I also had at least two Carolina Locusts, Dissosteira carolina on the gravel area, but could never get close enough to them to get a decent photo until August 3.
Square-headed Wasp Crabro latipes (Hym.: Crabronidae) Terry Thormin
Carolina Locust Dissosteira carolina (Orth.: Acrididae) Terry Thormin
August 3
Annie Pang sends a couple of photos of the Margined White from the railway line north of Cowichan station, and a Cabbage White for comparison.
Jeremy Tatum sends a photo of an egg of Furcula scolopendrina from a willow leaf at Cedar Hill Golf Course. The caterpillar of this notodontid moth is one of the most remarkable caterpillars in our area, and, if it hatches successfully, we may be able to watch its progress. Moths of the genus Furcula are popularly known as kitten moths.
Margined White Pieris marginalis (Lep.: Pieridae) Annie Pang
Margined White Pieris marginalis (Lep.: Pieridae) Annie Pang
Cabbage White Pieris rapae (Lep.: Pieridae) Annie Pang
Egg of Furcula scolopendrina (Lep.: Notodontidae) Jeremy Tatum
Terry Thormin writes: I photographed this flower fly on July 30 while at Morrison Creek Park in Courtenay, but did not send it to you with the other photos because I was uncertain as to what it was. It had some of the field marks of Dasysyrphus but the markings did not match anything on Bugguide. So I sent the photo to Martin Hauser, a syrphid expert. He had to send the photo on to Chris Thompson, another syrphid expert, for identification. Chris identified it as Megasyrphus laxus, a rarely seen flower fly. This species is also known as Eriozona laxa, and is listed as such in Bugguide where the only other North American record is from Newfoundland
Flower Fly Megasyrphus laxus (Dip.: Syrphidae) Terry Thormin
August 2
Jeremy Tatum reports that first-instar caterpillars of Lorquin's Admirals are now to be found in several locations (Swan Lake, Blenkinsop Lake, Kings Pond) at the tips of leaves of willows, Ocean Spray and Hardhack, with luck ensuring next years generation of this butterfly.
When the lights are left on overnight at the front door of the Swan Lake Nature House, the morning after will sometimes have a fine display of moths there. On August 1, there was Alucita montana (Alucitidae), Emmelina monodactyla (Pterophoridae), Hemithea aestivaria (Geometridae), Pero behrensaria (Geometridae) and Dichagyris variabilis (Noctuidae).
H. aestivaria is another European invader, known as the Common Emerald. P. behrensaria and D. variabilis were both lifers for me. Apparently the larval food plant of the latter is not known. There are still discoveries to be made!
Terry Thormin writes: A walk in Morrison Creek Park on July 30th proved to be very slow. Even with nice weather I saw very few insects. I actually kept a count of what I saw and was quite shocked at the low numbers. A single ant in ¼ hours was particularly disturbing. I did however see and photograph three insects of interest. The first is a flea beetle, Altic sp. This was my first chrysomelid of the year, which in itself is quite scary. The second is a click beetle that I have not been able to get even to genus. Finally is a woolly aphid belonging to the sub-family Eriosomatinae, and probably to the genus Eriosoma.
Annie Pang sends three photos of Essex Skipper¸ including a pale one of the form pallida.
Flea beetle Altica sp. (Col.: Chrysomelidae) Terry Thormin
Click beetle (Col.: Elateridae) Terry Thormin
Woolly aphid Probably Eriosoma sp. (Hem.: Aphididae Eriosomatinae) Terry Thormin
Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Annie Pang
Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Annie Pang
Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola var. pallida (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Annie Pang