October 25

The Western Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar shown on September 30 and October 15 pupated yesterday. Here's the chrysalis.

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus (Lep.: Papilionidae)

Jeremy Tatum

October 23

Jeremy Tatum writes: I saw a Cabbage White at Sidney today, and two more Isabella caterpillars at Maber Flats.

October 21

Jeremy Tatum writes: I've just had a wonderful offer from Eric LaGasa, Chief Entomologist at the Washington State Department of Agriculture, to help with identification of microlepidoptera, particularly Tortricidae. So, contributors, don't hesitate to photograph any micros you come across, even if you can't identify them. Eric has identified some of the ones we had left unidentified on earlier postings. I think I can prevail upon Ann Nightingale's computer expertise to label them soon. In the meantime, the identifications that Eric offers are:

July 4. The top image is Archips rosanus. The bottom image is probably A. podana.

July 11. The top image is a Eurasian species, Carcina quercana, apparently not previously recorded on Snowberry.

In addition, Eric tells us that the Croesus albicomana illustrated on June 16 has now been moved to Acleris, so it is now Acleris albicomana.

Thank you so much, Eric!

October 19

Jeremy Tatum writes: I found the caterpillar of this Isabella Moth in the Martindale Valley yesterday. It is having a last meal on a dandelion leaf, after which it will curl up and go to sleep for the winter in its nice fur coat. In early spring it will spin a cocoon and pupate inside it, and the moth will emerge a few weeks later.

There were still a few Cabbage Whites flying around yesterday.

Isabella Moth Pyrrharctia isabella (Lep.: Arctiidae)

Jeremy Tatum

October 16

Jeremy Tatum writes: I found a caterpillar of the Spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa maculata at the University of Victoria yesterday. As with its cousin L. argentata (see the August 2 posting), some modern authors place this species in a new family, Erebidae, while others place it in Noctuidae. Until the dust settles I'm sticking with good, old-fashioned Arctiidae. I also found at my apartment building a nice geometrid moth, though, alas, it vibrated its wings slightly when I pressed the button. There are still a very few Cabbage Whites around.

Spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa maculata ( Lep.: Arctiidae)

Jeremy Tatum

Synaxis jubararia (Lep.: Geometridae)

Jeremy Tatum

October 15

That late Western Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar that was shown on September 30 is now much larger and of quite a different colour.

There are still a few Cabbage Whites flying today.

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus (Lep.: Papilionidae)

Jeremy Tatum

October 13

Karen Ferguson sends us from Salt Spring Island two photographs of a caterpillar with a pussycat-like face. The caterpillar looks a little unsteady on its feet, and a little bit elderly. However, it is perfectly all right. It has finished eating, and has left its foodplant and is searching for a place to pupate, which it will do very soon. The caterpillar is the caterpillar of the famous Peppered Moth of industrial melanism fame. When the soot of industrial Europe killed off the lichens from tree trunks and blackened the tree trunks, a formerly rare melanic form of the moth, bearing a recessive gene, rapidly replaced what was formerly a highly cryptic "peppered" form. As far as I know, most of our Peppered Moths here (subspecies cognataria) are still "peppered".

Peppered Moth Biston betularia (Lep.: Geometridae) Karen Ferguson

Peppered Moth Biston betularia (Lep.: Geometridae)

Karen Ferguson

There were still a few Cabbage Whites flying in the Martindale Valley, Central Saanich, on October 8 and 9, though I doubt if we'll see any today.

October 5

Hang in there - the butterflyless doldrums have not yet quite set in. Annie Pang reports Cabbage Whites from the Gorge-Tillicum area of Victoria on October 3 and 4.

The onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder ( a condition caused by lack of butterflies) has been put off by the appearance of a couple of Cabbage Whites at Panama Flats today - but S.A.D. cannot be far off now. Let us know when you see your last butterfly of the season. There was a beautiful geometrid moth - Synaxis jubararia - outside my apartment this morning, but, alas, just out of reach of my camera.

October 1

Terry Thormin has responded to my request for help with identifications and spellings for the September 22 entry (Karen Ferguson's sexton beetle) and the September 27 entry (Robert Alison's hymenoptera photos), so I have emended the text for the entries for these days. Have a look. Thanks, Terry.

September 30

Jeremy Tatum found a very, very late caterpillar of a Western Tiger Swallowtail, only in its third instar, at Rithet's Bog today. Also, the Large Yellow Underwing caterpillar shown on September 27 underwent its final ecdysis today (that means it visited its tailor and bought a new suit). It wanted you to see its fine new colours.

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus (Lep.: Papilionidae) Jeremy Tatum

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum

September 29

Val George sends a photo of a magnificent slug known variously as the Giant Garden Slug or the Great Grey Slug Limax maximus from his garden in Oak Bay yesterday. What a treasure to find in one's garden!

Giant Garden Slug Limax maximus (Pul.: Limacidae) Val George

September 28

Jeremy Tatum sends a photo of a caterpillar found at Goldstream Park recently. It was on Salmonberry when it was found, but it now seems to prefer the leaves of Red Alder.

Iridopsis emasculata (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum

September 27

New contributor Robert Alison (welcome!) has been photographing sundry wasps and bees at Beacon Hill Park. We can't identify them all to species, but Terry Thormin (thanks, Terry) has kindly given us his best stab at them. No 100 percent guarantees!

In the meantime, those moth eggs displayed on September 4 hatched some time ago, and we can now show one of the caterpillars that hatched from them.

Possibly Vespula alascensis (Hym.: Vespidae) Robert Alison

Bombus sp. (Hym.: Apidae) Robert Alison

Possibly Prionyx sp. (Hym.: Sphecidae) Robert Alison

Bembix americana (Hym.: Crabronidae) Robert Alison

Agapostemon sp. (Hym.: Halictidae) Robert Alison

Bombus ternarius (Hym.: Apidae) Robert Alison

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae)

Jeremy Tatum

September 26

Jeremy Tatum writes: Summer came to an end on September 23, although on the following day there were still several Cabbage Whites in the Martindale Valley, Central Saanich. Today I photographed a Tissue Moth near Mount Tolmie.

American Tissue Moth Triphosa haesitata (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum

September 22

Karen Ferguson sends a photograph of a burying or sexton beetle from Aylard Farm, Metchosin, on September 17. These beetles often have mites on them, though this one seems to have more than its fair share, and I'm sure Karen is right in suggesting that the beetle is "not happy" with its load! The spelling for the genus can be found as Nicrophorus or Necrophorus . "Necrophorus" would be correct Greek for someone (such as a church sexton) who carries a dead body, but apparently Fabricius, in his original description of the genus in 1801, for some reason used the spelling "Nicrophorus". This was apparently "corrected" in 1789 by Thunberg to "Necrophorus". However, in order to avoid endless confusion, the convention in scientific names is for the original spelling to stand, even if it was, strictly speaking, a misspelling. Therefore the scientific name that we must use is the spelling originally given by Fabricius, namely Nicrophorus. Thanks to Terry Thormin for researching this for us. The burying beetles, if perhaps not always digging a grave for a corpse of a small mammal or bird, at least cover it with dead leaves and detritus.

As for which species of sexton beetle it is, there are several species and I don't know how much variation there is within a species or between species. However, Terry tells us that this is a dead ringer for

N. defodiens. If anyone can identify the mites, please let us know!

Nicrophorus defodiens (Col.: Silphidae) Karen Ferguson

September 17

Jeremy Tatum writes: The butterfly season is coming to a close, but there were still a few Pine Whites flying at East Sooke Park today, floating gently like tiny fragments of Kleenex. Who's going to see the last butterfly of the season? Keep your reports coming in! Not many more caterpillars around, but I found the one shown below on a Salmonberry bush at East Sooke Park:

Habrosyne scripta (Lep.: Drepanidae - Thysanurinae) Jeremy Tatum

September 13

Karen Ferguson reports some truly spectacular damage to Garry Oaks on Salt Spring Island on September 1 by the caterpillars of the moth Lambdina fiscellaria. These caterpillars are variously called the Hemlock Looper or the Oak Looper, and they occasionally have huge outbreaks. I have never seen one in the Victoria area. Handfield in his Papillons du Québec describes the species as "un ogre".

Lambdina fiscellaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Karen Ferguson

Lambdina fiscellaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Karen Ferguson

Webbing, and damage to oak trees, by

Lambdina fiscellaria (Lep.: Geometridae)

Photo by Karen Ferguson

September 11

Bruce Whittington sends a photo of a Paddle-tailed Darner photographed at South Wellington on September 8.

Paddle-tailed Darner Aeshna palmata (Odo.: Aeshnidae) Bruce Whittington

And though it's a bit late for viewers to dash out and have a look, Bruce sends a photo of some robber flies and a Woodland Skipper from Ladysmith on August 8. Can anyone out there identify the robbers?

So - welcome to two new contributors, Mike Yip and Bruce Whittington, in the last few days.

Robber flies (Dip.: Asilidae) Bruce Whittington

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Bruce Whittington

September 10

Jeremy Tatum sends a photo of a Neoalcis californiaria from the outside wall of his apartment building this morning.

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum

A little late for people to rush out and see, but Mike Yip's August 5 photo of a Common Woodnymph near Fairwinds golf course is too good to miss. I wonder if they have been seen at the RPBO this year?

Common Woodnymph Cercyonis pegala (Lep.: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) Mike Yip

 

September 9

Jeremy Tatum writes: The geometrid moth Neoalcis californiaria seemed to have a busy night last night. There were three of them on the wall just outside my bedroom window this morning.

Mike Yip sends a lovely series of photos of exciting butterflies taken yesterday at Paradise Meadow on Mount Washington. Jeremy Tatum writes: "I don't think we get any of these in the Victoria area - at least I've never seen any of them. This is very exciting! I can see that I'm going to have to take a trip up to Mount Washington sometime."

The first is a Hoary Anglewing Polygonia gracilis - although if you are a taxonomic splitter you will probably call it a Zephyr Anglewing P. zephyrus. Some authors lump the two as a single species; others regard them as two separate species. Its foodplant is said to be Ribes species, such as Red-flowering Currant, or maybe some species of gooseberry.

Next is the Western Meadow Fritillary, probable foodplant Viola. It is Boloria epithore to some authors; Clossiana epithore to others.

And finally a Mariposa Copper, also known as Reakirt's Copper. Foodplant Vaccinium.

Hoary ("Zephyr") Anglewing Polygonia gracilis zephyrus (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Mike Yip

Hoary ("Zephyr") Anglewing Polygonia gracilis zephyrus (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Mike Yip

Western Meadow Fritillary Boloria epithore (Lep.: Nymphalidae) MikeYip

Western Meadow Fritillary Boloria epithore (Lep.: Nymphalidae) MikeYip

Mariposa Copper Lycaena mariposa (Lep.: Lycaenidae) Mike Yip

September 7, 2011

Jeremy Tatum writes that the number of eggs in the larger of the two batches of eggs shown on September 4 is 1,957.

September 6

Jeremy Tatum writes: I found a magnificent specimen of the Brown Angle Shades moth Phlogophora periculosa perched on a window at the University of Victoria today. Note the pleated wings.

Brown Angle Shades Phlogophora periculosa (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum

 

September 4

Jeremy Tatum writes: A big, big thank you to Terry Thormin for holding the fort while I was away. And of course thanks also to you, the contributors, for keeping it going. I am back in the saddle now, and contributors should keep sending their postings to the same address: invertalert@naturevictoria.ca ("Holding the fort" and "back in the saddle" - I'm sure my old English teacher would have scolded me for a mixed metaphor or something, but I'm too tired to change it just now!)

Butterflies will be getting scarce as September moves along, but there are still lots of Cabbage Whites about, and today at Panama Flats I saw several Woodland Skippers and a Purplish Copper. And there are still moths, dragonflies and grasshoppers. On the wall of my apartment building this morning were a Large Yellow Underwing moth Noctua pronuba, and a Neoalcis californiaria.

I found a couple of batches of Large Yellow Underwing eggs on Typha at Panama Flats this morning. The length of the larger of these two batches is 47 mm. No wonder these European moths are so common! If I find myself with nothing better to do, I'll count the eggs and let you know what I get on a later posting.

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum

Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Tatum

 

August 29

Val George sent in a photo of a male Pine White from Witty's Lagoon on August 27th. He reports that there were many of them flying around the tree tops but that this one obligingly landed and allowed him to photograph it.

Pine White Neophasia menapia (Lep.: Pieridae) Val George

Annie Pang sent in two photos with poetographs of Woodland Skippers taken on August 17th in her own backyard. She reports

'The Woodland Skipper is one of our latest and smallest butterflies, so called for its darting or "skipping" from one place to another. Beats me why it is called "Woodland" because it prefers sunny grasslands. Its larvae food is various grasses, so it is not in any way interested in the veggies or fruit trees, except as an adult as it might be an excellent pollinator if it showed up earlier in the season but as it is, it does my flowers proud! Loves, lavenders, Cupid's Dart, members of the daisy/dandelion family and any imitations....pretty much any flowers and especially clover along trails and roadsides or in your lawn.'

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Annie Pang

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Annie Pang

August 26

Marie O'Shaughnessy sent in a photo of a male Pine White taken on August 23 near the top of Observatory Hill. She reports that she saw 6 males altogether. Annie Pang commented on this, saying that the females are usually found high in the trees and seldom come down to ground level the way the males do. Nice photo Marie!

Pine White male Neophasia menapia (Lep.: Pieridae) Marie O'Shaughnessy

Terry Thormin sent in this photo of an unidentified female robber fly, family Asilidae, taken on August 23rd at Lazo Marsh in Comox. She was apparently laying eggs in the plant she was on. Although most robber flies lay their eggs in the soil, some do oviposit into plants. Terry will try to get it identified, and if he does he will post the name once available.

Robber Fly (Dip.: Asilidae) Terry Thormin

Now for some catching-up. Sometimes it takes a while to get correct names for some species, and in this case it was a number of moths taken by Annie Pang on August 11 at the Swan Lake Nature House and, in one case, at Viaduct Flats. These were identified by members of the Alberta Lepidopterists' Guild, a group of entomologists, professional and amateur, largely from Alberta, but with members from around North America, including B.C. The first is the Brown-lined Looper, a pest in the larval stage on Rocky mountain douglas-fir, western hemlock and western redcedar. The second is the Single-dotted Wave, an introduced species from Europe that is now found on both coasts of North America. The larvae of this moth feed on Cow Parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris, an introduced and invasive plant that is native to Europe. I could not find out if the plant has made its way to Vancouver Island, so if anyone knows, please let us know. It would certainly make sense as the moth is here. The third moth, another geometrid, could not be identified beyond the family level for certain, but is probably a Eupithecia sp. Maybe someone else can confirm this and identify it to species level. The last moth is the one taken at Viaduct Flats, and is the Western Poplar Clearwing. Many of the clearwing moths are wasp mimics, and this one is no exception.

Annie also sent in two other photos taken on August 11 at the Swan Lake Nature House, the first of a five-legged Harvestman that is probably Phalangium opilio. Harvestmen have a built-in mechanism that allows them to drop legs very easily should they be grabbed by a predator. The most important function of this mechanism is to shut off the flow of hemolymph, the creature's blood, to the limb to prevent bleeding to death. Some groups of insects such as grasshoppers and stick insects use the same mechanism. The final photo is a single front wing of a Lorquin's Admiral. It is my (again, Terry Thormin) feeling that this is most likely the result of a bird eating the butterfly, although some other predators cannot be discounted. Birds, when they catch butterflies or moths, often beat the poor insect against something until the wings fall off.

Brown-lined Looper Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Annie Pang

Single-dotted Wave Idaea dimidiata (Lep.: Geometridae) Annie Pang

Geometrid Moth possibly Eupithecia sp. (Lep.: Geometridae) Annie Pang

Western Poplar Clearwing Paranthrene robiniae form perlucida (Lep.: Sesiidae) Annie Pang

Harvestman, possibly Phalangium opilio (Opiliones.: Phalangiidae) Annie Pang

Forewing of Lorquin’'s Admiral Limenitis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Annie Pang

August 17

Terry Thormin writes that he went to Little River Pond yesterday (Aug 16th) looking for the first Autumn Meadowhawks of the season and was successful in finding three freshly emerged individuals and one older individual that was showing its full adult colours. Freshly emerged dragonflies are referred to as being teneral or immature adults and they lack the rich colours of the adult dragonflies. It can take days or even weeks in some species for the new exoskeleton to gain its full adult coloration.

Autumn Meadowhawk Sympetrum vicinum (Ode.: Libellulidae) Terry Thormin

Annie Pang sent in another of her great photos and poems of a male Pine White from August 12th. She writes "One thing I did learn about Pine Whites is that they LOVE yellow flowers, including and especially it seems, Goldenrod. The other day I figured that the Goldenrod at Esquimal Gorge Park would be in full bloom and open for pollination. This is one place where I have never seen more than one Pine White at a time but I have been lucky in at least getting one at ground level, and this day was no exception……….I got lucky or my hunch was right or it was just Nature saying, "Time to take a look!" in my ear, but I went on the 12th of August, walked into the garden where the Goldenrod was and, boom, there he was, and there he stayed, nectaring on Goldenrod."

You are right Annie, Pine Whites and Autumn Meadowhawks tell us we are nearing the end of summer.

Pine White male Neophasia menapia (Lep.: Pieridae) Annie Pang

August 14

Terry Thormin writes that he spent yesterday with a couple of friends photographing dragonflies at Bowser Bog. Although the numbers were dropping, a sign that fall is just around the corner, there was still a good diversity, including three new species for the group. The best catch was a female Shadow Darner, but as well there were a number of White-faced Meadowhawk that had probably been there earlier but were overlooked. A single Variable Darner provided a distant photograph, but good enough for positive identification. As usual Canada Darners were the most common of the larger dragonflies and would occasionally come in close enough for a good portrait. A single Pine White, the only butterfly seen all day, put in an appearance and allowed close photographs as it was blown around in the wind while clinging to a blade of grass.

Shadow Darner female Aeshna umbrosa (Ode.: Aeshnidae) Terry Thormin

White-faced Meadowhawk Sympetrum obtrusum (Ode.: Libellulidae) Terry Thormin

Variable Darner Aeshna interrupta (Ode.: Aeshnidae) Terry Thormin

Canada Darner Aeshna canadensis (Ode.: Aeshnidae) Terry Thormin

Pine White Neophasia menapia (Lep.: Pieridae) Terry Thormin

August 11

Annie Pang sent in this photograph of a Monarch butterfly taken at Glendale Gardens on August 6th. She writes that she found the Monarch during the Annual Art Show and Sale and followed the butterfly for an hour and twenty minutes, dodging people and exhibits and taking a total of 168 photos. Well done Annie, I admire your dedication. This individual can be recognized as a male by the black pheromone glands on the hind wings (clearly visible on the right wing). Although the Monarch has been recorded before for Vancouver Island, it is quite a rare butterfly here. Larvae feed on milkweed and as there are no milkweed plants on the island any monarch that ends up here cannot breed. Any individual found on the island is likely to have been caught up in an easterly and blown off course.

Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Annie Pang

August 8

Jeremy Tatum writes that yesterday he saw a Mylitta Crescent butterfly at Sandgate Road, Metchosin - the first he has heard of this year.

August 6

Now that Pine Whites and Woodland Skippers have started to appear, does this mean, alas, that summer is icumen to an end? Here are two photos of Woodland Skippers taken by Annie Pang in Esquimalt Gorge Park yesterday.

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Annie Pang

Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides (Lep.: Hesperiidae) Annie Pang

Aug 5

Jeremy Tatum writes: Contributors, please note the new address to which contributions should be sent, invertalert@naturevictoria.ca I am shortly going on holiday, and Terry Thormin will be taking over the reins while I'm away. Ann Nightingale has cleverly tweaked the site so that if you send your contributions to the new address, it will automatically go to whomever is running it at any time. In the meantime I am in my office marking exams, every so often (quite often, in fact) gazing out of the window looking (at last!) at clouds of Pine Whites flitting around at the tops of the Douglas Firs on campus. Clouds? Well, half-a-dozen at least.

Jochen Moehr found a Sheep Moth on his lawn in Metchosin. He writes: "It seemed still alive but died soon after. I think one of my dogs might have stepped on it in the
grass." Well that's an unfortunate way for a moth to end its days, but it did at least allow Jochen to get photos of its upper and undersides!

Terry Thormin sends photos of a couple of dragonflies taken at Little River Pond, Comox, yesterday.

Sheep Moth Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae) Jochen Moehr

Sheep Moth Hemileuca eglanterina (Lep.: Saturniidae) Jochen Moehr

Western Pondhawk Erythemis collocata (Odo.: Libellulidae) Terry Thormin

Striped Meadowhawk Sympetrum pallipes (Odo.: Libellulidae) Terry Thormin

August 3

Butterflies continue to be so, so scarce, and we welcome reports or pics of even the most familiar species. Bruce Whittington sends a photo of a tiger swallowtail from Ladysmith. We assume that it's the familiar Western Tiger Swallowtail, but we don't really know the difference (if there really are any differences!) between that and the so-called Canadian Tiger Swallowtail. If there is any swallowtail expert out there who thinks that this might be canadensis or who can tell the difference between it and rutulus, please do let us know.

Western (?) Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus (?) Bruce Whittington

August 2

I knew that, among the millions logging on to this site every day, someone out there must be able to help us with our almost-daily dose of unidentified "micro" moths. Sure enough, Jeremy Gatten identified a micro shown on July 7 as the tortricid moth Ditula angustiorana. This is a moth of European origin, which, according to Powell and Opler, made its North American début in 1924 - in Victoria.

Annie Pang writes: These are our two "resident" Lorquin's Admirals. One has been around since July 2, and the other just appeared on July 28 but the older one keeps chasing it off to the neighbour's yard where it is sunning on a woodpile. The older Lorquin's Admiral suns itself on one of our Broad-leaved Maples. We also have several Cabbage Whites.

Lorquin's Admiral Nymphalis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Annie Pang

Lorquin's Admiral Nymphalis lorquini (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Annie Pang

In the meantime the caterpillar of Triphosa haesitata illustrated on July 10 grew into a moth today, so here it is:

Tissue Moth Triphosa haesitata (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Tatum

Jeremy Gatten sends photos of some of the splendid moths that he's been seeing recently. I've labelled Lophocampa as being in Arctiidae, though some authors place it in Noctuidae, and others in Erebidae. Jeremy Tatum

Autographa corusca (Lep.: Noctuidae) Jeremy Gatten

Chlorosea banksia (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Gatten

Lophocampa argentata (Lep.: Arctiidae) Jeremy Tatum

Metanema inatomaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Gatten

Nemoria unitaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Jeremy Gatten

August 1

Annie Pang photographed a nice Garden Spider or Cross Spider Araneus diadematus in her back porch on July 27.

Araneus diadematus (Ara.: Araneidae) Annie Pang

Jeremy Gatten writes: This time of year seems to be really good! For instance, I just turned on the lights this evening and had a Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentata and an Elder Moth Zotheca tranquilla which were both new for me. Last week, I had Banks's Emerald Moth Chlorosea banksaria, Common Emerald Hemithea aestivaria, Single-lined Emerald Nemoria unitaria, and Pale Beauty Campaea perlata making for a nice greenish moth set. Additionally, I had my first Caramel Looper Autographa corusca and even a Polyphemus Moth Antheraea polyphemus. Great stuff! Let me know if you want any photos of any of these species.

Yes, definitely! - Send 'em in! Jeremy Tatum

Jeremy Tatum writes: Yesterday Bill Savale and I went to the Nature House at Goldstream Park and looked around the lights there. Our most exciting insect was a dobsonfly Dysmicohermes disjunctus. There were also some nice moths there, such as Campaea perlata, Hemithea aestivaria, Pero mizon, Clemensia albata, as well as some unidentified ones. I followed that up by going to the Nature House at Swan Lake this morning with Chris Saunders, and there we saw Hemithea aestivaria, Sicya macularia, Pero mizon, Alucita montana, Nematocampa resistaria and of course some more unidentified ones.

Barry Camp reports that yesterday on the Lochside trail between the Blenkinsop Lake Bridge and Lohbrunner's he saw a Satyr Anglewing and three Lorquin's Admirals, and in a nearby daisy field scores of Cabbage Whites. Also, on July 30 he reports a Woodland Skipper from Kingsley Street in Saanich.

Jeremy Tatum writes: The Red Admiral, whose caterpillar was shown on July 16 and chrysalis on July 21, didn't waste any time, and it emerged on July 30. Sorry - I tried, but I couldn't manage a decent photo of the upperside, but here, for what it's worth, is the underside.

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Lep.: Nymphalidae) Jeremy Tatum