Winged Wonders

I have been a bit of a scatterbrained naturalist in the last few days.  The common denominator of the critters I've been enjoying is wings.  Sometimes I'll scrounge up enough material from one outing and it can flow nicely, but I've been forced to stitch together shots from the pond outside my place, my deck light at night, and Saanichton Spit.

I'll still rock this chronologically, so a nice moth I encountered a few nights back is the starting point.  I encountered my first member of the genus Plusia a few weeks back - it was a sharp little moth with a gleaming white stripe on its wings, which has the appropriate common name of White-streaked Looper (P. venusta).  Shortly after, I found a moth resting on Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and was immediately struck by the contrast of its two white spots on each wing against a pastel wash of burnt sienna and lavender.  I pored over the Moths of Canada plates and was surprised to see it was Putnam's Looper Moth (P. putnami).  That was an incredibly roundabout introduction to say I encountered my third species of Plusia under my deck light: P. nichollae.

Plusia nichollae - the moth with the silver tattoo

Around the pond outside my place, I continued to see Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis).  They are so showy with their turquoise eyes that I couldn't help but snap more photos.  I also enjoyed watching two males vying for territory around a female.  One of them must have been a lucky suitor as I observed the female ovipositing in the shadows.  I put the flash on and managed a shot of her hovering just above the water.

I find all Blue Dashers pretty special, but she must be hot because two males were fighting over her!

Here is one of the eligible bachelors - he looks like a lover, not a fighter

While watching the Blue Dashers, I noticed a female Striped Meadowhawk (Sympetrum pallipes) that landed in one of the conifers beside the pond.  I decided to leave the Blue Dasher ménage à trois and take some shots of the meadowhawk.

The two white parallel marks on the thorax are the diagnostic feature of Striped Meadowhawks

I also noticed a diminutive Western Forktail (Ischnura perparva) at the pond's edge.  They can be found flying alongside Pacific Forktails (I. cervula), but are easily distinguished by the two stripes on their thorax as opposed to four spots found on Pacifics.  I haven't really had much luck taking photos of damselflies, but I thought this one turned out not too shabby.

Most forktails in our region have mostly black abdominal segments with two or three blue subterminal segments.  Western Forktails have two thin blue dorsal stripes on their thorax and S8 and S9 are blue.

After a couple laps around the pond, I had a quick outing at Saanichton Spit.  I was hoping to encounter Oregon Branded Skippers (Hesperia colorado oregonia) and was not disappointed.  I found four in total during my walk out on the spit with very little effort.  I took a few shots of one and I am not terribly impressed with any of them, but will put one up anyways.  Oregon Branded Skippers are typically found in Garry Oak habitats, so the population at Saanichton Spit is anomalous comparatively.  At the spit, I often find them nectaring on Puget Sound Gumweed (Grindelia stricta) and that's exactly what I captured in my shot.

Oregon Branded Skippers were recently recognized as a threatened species in Canada

I came across a different species of meadowhawk near the base of the spit and it's one I enjoy for breaking the mold of the typical meadowhawk pattern.  Most meadowhawks around here are red, but Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) more intricately patterned.

This male Variegated Meadowhawk was one of two found near the base of Saanichton Spit

I was also hoping to encounter some shorebirds at Saanichton Spit and managed to get some results in that department as well.  I certainly didn't find anything overly interesting, but the flock of forty or so peeps was more than I anticipated based on recent reports from there.  My highlights were two Semipalmated Plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus), eight Red-necked Phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus) putting along the tide rip, a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) flying over to James Island, a Merlin (F. columbarius) at the base of the spit, and five Western Grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) cruising through the strait.  The plovers were the only birds cooperative enough to let me get a shot and said shot will conclude this post.

Juvenile Semipalmated Plover at the water's edge

Finding Nemophora

Moths are not always thought of as the most charismatic group.  As you may know by now, I think they are quite fascinating.  I don't like to play favourites but I have a special place in my heart for the family Adelidae: the fairy longhorn moths.  They are definitely as whimsical as their names makes them out to be.  The first fairy longhorn moth I ever encountered was at Oak Haven Park in Brentwood Bay.  I noticed a tiny, black moth with three white stripes, a fuzzy red head, and extremely long, gaudy antennae.  At the time I thought most moths were virtually impossible to identify, but I gave it the old college try by perusing the internet.  I managed to determine it was a Three-striped Longhorn Moth (Adela trigrapha).

This angle shows off all the key features of Adela trigrapha, but does not do the antennae justice

A couple years ago, I rekindled my interest in fairy longhorn moths by encountering two more species.  Walking along the railroad tracks near Goldstream Provincial Park, I noticed some tiny moths similar to the Three-striped Longhorn, but they had only two white bands and a series of tiny dots near the tips of their wings.  I went home and determined they were Ocean Spray Longhorn Moths (Adela septentrionella).  The next species was found while bird atlassing along a logging road above Burton Creek south of Nakusp.  At the side of the logging road, I noticed some small moths associating with Holboell's Rockcress (Arabis holboelli).  They had that signature cuter-than-a-button look and fairly long antennae that made me think they were fairy longhorn moths.  I was now significantly more adept at identifying moths and with some research and close scrutiny, I came up with Cauchas simpliciella as the best match.

What's not to love?  Cauchas simpliciella might just be the cutest moth I've ever seen!

I connected with another fairy longhorn moth a couple weeks ago while working in Conklin in northern Alberta.  The species was instantly recognizable as a fairy longhorn due to the long antennae, but this one had a pattern that put the three other species I'd encountered to shame.  I pored over the Alberta checklist of Lepidoptera and was easily able to narrow down the identification as only four species fall under the family Adelidae.  I checked what Nemophora bellela looked like at the Moth Photographers Group and found it was a dead ringer for the individual I had photographed.

The first Nemophora bellela I found was sitting up on Labrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum)

You have to pay close attention if you're going to spot any of the fairy longhorns, but the reward is worth it.  These small, intricate little moths with antennae longer than their wings are always a delight.

Mothtradamus

With the onset of moth season, I have been anticipating the return of some of the species I encountered last year.  I don't have a very good grasp of the flight chronology of our local regulars, so I basically just think of some of the more memorable species and think "When will that one be here?"

Several nights ago, after seeing many Orthosia hibisci, I wondered when O. transparens would make an appearance.  It is quite distinctive as it is largely rusty-toned with indistinct orbicular and renal spots on the wing.  I personally enjoy its silver-tipped mohawk, though.  It was almost like I rubbed some kind of magic moth latern because it was out there that night.

Orthosia transparens has the mullet equivalent for moths - business up front, party in the back!

This individual had more pronounced markings.  You can really
see the silver-tipped mohawk here and the faint wing spots.

A couple days later, I was thinking "When will that wicked moth with the lime green markings turn up?"  Less than half-an-hour later, a moth landed on the window briefly and then settled under the light.  It was the hoped for Behrensia conchiformis.  Am I some kind of moth whisperer?  Could I be the legendary lepidopteran prophet, Mothtradamus?  That might be something I made up, but I like it better than referencing a 2002 thriller, "The Mothman Prophecies", starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney.  Rather than talk about decade-old movies, let's see this wondrous moth that I prophesied.

I am always a fan of contrast and Behrensia conchiformis definitely has that going for it.  The lime green markings
tracing the edges of the mid-wing dark sooty patches really jump out and make an otherwise drab moth very memorable.

One final prediction was made today before heading to Oak Haven Park in Brentwood Bay.  I photographed a nice moth - Epirrhoe plebeculata - last year at the same location last year and I had my fingers crossed for a repeat event.  Apparently this prediction was a little too obvious... like watching America's Funniest Home Videos and predicting the father will get hit in the groin when he pitches a ball to his kid from four metres away.  Unfortunately this moth is nowhere near as funny, but it is enjoyable all the same.

This early season day-flying moth is easily recognized with its tiger-patterned hind wings.

I don't know enough species to keep making predictions, so I think I'll retire with a perfect record.  In the back of my mind, though, I'm already thinking "When is that Orthosia praeses going to fly in?"  It could be out there now.  I'll check with my Magic 8-Ball... "Reply hazy, try again".  What a sham!

Like Moths to a Deck Light

That might be the least poetic title yet, but it is apt.  Besides, if I used a flame there would be moths spiraling out of the sky with smoldering wings.  And burning moth hair probably smells funny, too!

We have the odd moth species locally that can be found right through the winter, but we are now back in proper moth season.  I usually start turning on the deck light as soon as March rolls around to see if anything is flying.  This year it wasn't really until April that things really got rolling, but the diversity has really started soaring now.

To give a little background to this taxonomic group in relation to the nerd behind the blog, I decided to give moth identification a go many moons ago.  I believe it was in the summer of 2010 that my biological attention deficit disorder (BADD) - that's not an official disorder, but it's real - drew me in to the world of well-lit, spackled hotel walls during work trips.  Every morning I would wander around the hotel like a creep and search for moths under lights.  The hardest part was not looking like a pervert - that came naturally because I was wielding a camera and had a wicked field beard.  The hard part was identifying the moths.  I quickly learned that conventional resources were virtually non-existent.  As a birder, I am used to referencing several species-comprehensive field guides.  No such reference exists for the moths of the province.  I scoured the internet and slowly began to build a virtual equivalent.  Also, to keep it simple, I decided to limit my scope to the macromoths because the order Lepidoptera has nearly 2300 species that occur in British Columbia (although a more recent estimate I received puts it over 2500), and over 2100 of those are moths.  Furthermore, just over half of the moths are macromoths so even tackling this subset is daunting.  Over a year and a half later I'm still chipping away at it.

Before getting to the recent deck light delinquents, I would like to pass on my frequently-used internet resources for anyone interested in learning their moths:

Moths of Canada (Government of Canada - Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility)

http://www.cbif.gc.ca/spp_pages/misc_moths/phps/mothindex_e.php

North American Moth Photographers Group

http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/

University of Alberta Strickland Museum

http://entomology.museums.ualberta.ca/browse.php

E-Fauna BC (Electronic Atlas of the Wildlife of British Columbia)

http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/MothsofBritishColumbia.html

BugGuide

http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

Flickr Members

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76798465@N00/collections/72157602004962512/ (Dick Wilson)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johns_pics/collections/72157602680911564/ (John Davis)

Lepidoptera of Vancouver Island (Jeremy Tatum)
http://facweb.furman.edu/~snyderjohn/tatum/

Alright, without further ado here is a selection of shots from the recent moth activity attracted to the deck light I leave on at night.

Eupithecia olivacea

Orthosia hibisci

Nola minna

Pleromelloida conserta

Possibly rare - Eupithecia gilvipennata

Xylena nupera

Lithophane innominata

Feralia deceptiva

That's just a sample of what's flying out there.  The patterns and colours of these moths are quite stunning!  I had been hoping for Feralia deceptiva to show up again and it popped in while I was writing this entry.  I wonder what the next weeks will bring.  If you're interested in seeing what's out there, flip on an outside light and see how it goes.  The whole moth identification thing can be very rewarding if you're a sucker for punishment!