Thanks Mellie! I've seen them flitting around my blue pea vine but no takers yet. Will keep trying :o)
~ Cat
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 65
Woo Hoo Peg!! (Datura12) ..... Nice baby picture you have there!!!
You blamed me before, now I guess you are thanking me??? LOL! Isn't it a fun hobby that you feel good about doing?
Mellie...That is a bunch of eggs and cats for sure!
Our cousin, and her DH from Atlanta GA, got to watch a BST emerge and release it this morning. They are visiting us this week. It is always fun to open people's eyes to things like that.
A couple of the butterflies that eclosed and were released.
American Lady first.
And a Black Swallowtail.
Yes, I think I am hooked Sheila. Was going to plant some parsley as my fennel is slowing up a bit. Didn't even think to buy some parsley, good idea, was going to plant some seeds, but the parsley doesn't like the heat. Think I will try anyway since I already have the seeds. I have some planted around the yard but again the heat is slowing them down. I did notice that they prefer the curly parsley to the flat leaf.
I'm finding that some eclose at first light. I am determined to get a video of the birth. When I see the others start to change color I will be getting up before the light. Now that's a bit obsessed. That's why I hesitated to start raising them. I can't do anything in a small way! LOL My motto, "go big or go home".
A better pic of the GST
itsy bitsy teeny weeny Monarch cat.
Georgeous shots!!
Ms. Ed...can't wait for cooler weather and the Monarchs to return here.
I bet! The season is just starting for me here. It will be a good 3 months, i'm sure! I have LOTS more flowers this year.
I've been sick, so I haven't posted for a while, but I've been enjoying reading all your posts.
Mellie, I laughed out loud when you described desmodium - that's what my long-tailed skippers use, and I describe them the same way, you know, those things that stick to your pants and socks when you walk in the woods!
I've released 35 gulf frits over the past five days, so I've quit bringing them in to raise. They've covered my vines, but I'm sure you're all familiar with those rabbits of the butterfly world.
I finally got a batch of pipevine swallowtails - I was SO happy! I also brought in some hatchling giant swallowtails - I have three left to emerge from the previous batch. There are jillions of sleepy oranges this year, plus I'm seeing more cloudless sulphurs. I saw some tiger swallowtails today, which was good, because they've been scarce this year. I found a spicebush swallowtail cat on my bog spicebush, which I'll be bringing in to raise soon, probably.
I released another red admiral from the latest batch - there are about eight or nine left to go.
After a very hot and dry June, and July starting off the same way, I got 2.40" of rain yesterday, .35" today, and there's a 50% chance of rain every day this week. It looks like the normal summer thunderstorms are happening, thank goodness!
Here's a picture of a few of the pipevine swallowtails - there are about 20 all together.
Sherry
Wow everyone is BF busy. Sheila it is nice to be able to share the release. I had 2 of my nephews 6 & 8 have their mimi bring them by today to see if i had any BF's they could release. Unfortunately today i didn't.
Linda both pictures are beautiful.
Does anyone know if you can mix caterpillars in the same BF cage?
If I have a few BST and GSTs eating Rue, I will leave them together as long as they are around the same size and there is plenty food. But I usually separate when they get larger because the BSTs are so active. I don't mix the host plants though. I try to bring the BST in very early and switch them over to parsley since I have more of it than rue.
got an early morning surprise...I went out on the porch around 5:30 w/ my morning coffee and look who was getting out of bed !
Got 7 more that will come out today, Watched a GWT lay eggs on the lemon tree and snagged a few, plus have a couple of tiny cats off my Corkbark passion flower. It was hanging in the shade so I'm hoping their Zebra's. Too tiny too tell yet. got another bunch of BST's on the Dill and Fennel by the back door, guess I'll bring some of them into the porch also. Still have 3 that have not eclosed out there.
I only have one cage...can I put all these guys in one cage together?
Datura, what is that flight cage ? D's SO has "butterfly cage' on is honey do list...
This one's chrysalis is stuck to it's wing...what should I do?
Sorry to hear you've been sick, Sherry. Hope you're over it. Nice little pipevine cats! I've got some also, but they should have all pupated already. Only one has so far...the rest stubbornly just keep going (except two that were parasitized and died) and I have so little to feed them any more. Nice Monarch, mjs, we won't see any until at least August. The butterflies here are mostly gone. A very few GF's, an occasional skipper or sulfur. Except for those I release. Our drought and extreme heat just gets worse. They're using words like "historic" because it's breaking records set in the 50's drought. Some of my plants are dying, going dormant or just not blooming any more, so less blooms for butterflies as time goes by. I had a dream last night in which I kept seeing lots of beautiful butterflies, including some that don't usually come here. Then woke up...disappointed it was a dream!
mjs....sorry about being so late to get on line today. I am sure your problem with the chrysalis is over one way or the other by now.
Melanie has Tersa Sphinx Moths! And let me just say, the big guy just produced the largest piece of poo I have ever seen come out of a caterpillar. Like, if he was a person I think he would need a stool softener; must be that high fiber diet.
Melanie (who is grateful she has other people to talk to about caterpillar poo)
Oh my! Just found 8 monarch eggs on two of my milkweeds. 6 on the common and 2 on the swamp. I couldn't check the butterfly weed because it's surrounded by other plants. Have to do that another night when I have patience.
Too funny Melanie!
For the questions about mixing different caterpillar species or instars in the same cage - it can be done but is not recommended. Larger caterpillar might pick fights with smaller caterpillars as well as with each other - and sometimes they even eat or kill the smaller instars - not sure if this is because they mistake them for food/part of the leaf or are getting rid of the competition.
Another concern would be disease and bacteria.
If you don't have caterpillar cages they are easy to make with a little bit of time and effort. I use a variety of plastic containers to make my own. If anyone is interested in photos, they can click on my name, then scroll down to 'actions' and click on the link for "Read TexasPuddyPrint's Garden Diary" - I have a thread there showing caterpillar cages as well as various caterpillar life cycles I am still working on.
It is really better to keep active caterpillars in separate cages. Some species like Bordered Patches, Crescents and Pipevine Swallowtails remain together on the same leaves or plant throughout their caterpillar stages. They also pupate and eclose at the same times :o)
Here's a photo of two Black Swallowtails fighting (yes, both are the same species). They both ended up on the same stem and began to battling for king of the hill rights. You can see one of the caterpillar's osmetarium protruding - they do that to scare off intruders or when they feel threatened.
I've also had Queen caterpillars cannibalize chrysalids.
~ Cat
This message was edited Jul 14, 2009 9:57 PM
Mrs. Ed..congrats on the Monarchs...they have been sparse around here. I had 9 in the cage...but out of that two had malformed wings, and one did not completely eclose...so a third success rate, and I'm say that as their wings dried off nicely and they flew away happily when released. So that's a 2/3 rds success rate? Not good enough for the Monarch's in my book. I have one of the Monarchs with a difformed wing on the porch right now. If she makes it thru the night I'll take her down to what we call the "Secret Garden",. a 20 x 40 patch of wildflowers that is bordered by those Hugh Sunflowers.
I'll try to post pics in the am...
Snapped a pic of this guy in central Oregon on vacation a couple of weeks ago. Anyone have an ID?
Mark
thanks MJ. I had ZERO luck last year with two monarchs. so if I don't have… let's say 90% success rate this year, I 'm not sure I'll try to raise again. I'm sooooo sensitive! LOL.
Ms Ed....you need to bring them in when they are eggs or just hatched and are real tiny. If they are brought in as large cats they have likely already been exposed to the parasite wasps, etc. Therefore...they would have died in the wild also. Please don't give up yet.
Right. That's what y'all taught me last year. So this year I am bringing in eggs! As posted above, I found 8 yesterday, which adds to the one already hatched. Now if we can just stop that illegal logging in mexico… LOL.
Cool Mrs. Ed...wishing you good luck!! I am lookinghard for BST cats... or heck any thing really! LOL
I've been "baiting" a Zebra Longwing. Moved some Maypop's that I had potted up into a hanging planter in the shade. Sure enough today she laid eggs..., now that maypop is on my porch! Only problem I have now is that I've got to get some cages made quick. I've got Queens, at least one Giant Swallowtail I got the leaves off the lemon tree when I saw here laying eggs and it looks like one has hatched, and BST cats which are still outside but I'm going to bring some in. Too many BF's and not enough playpens.
This message was edited Jul 15, 2009 4:50 PM
D'oh! I hear ya MJ, I just found a couple more monarch eggs.
Mark, that looks like a Checkered White but I don't know if they are found in Oregon or if there's a similar butterfly out west.
Meanwhile, the swallowtail fairy visited my rue. I have one rue plant (the other one died due to lack of water and Melanie neglect). I just bought them this spring and this is the first time anyone has used it. I'm so excited! Check out all the eggs!
Could it have been this guy? Or a Black ST? Who knows? I've seen Giant ST eggs range from pale yellow to orange-red and Black ST eggs range from near white to yellow so I'm waiting until they hatch before I confirm their identities.
Meanwhile, my Gulf Frits are almost all in their chrysalis which means my four Zebra Longwing cats have the run of the cage. Oh, when I came home this evening there was a Zebra Longwing on the porterweed. Gulf Frit was over on the pentas but the Giant ST and him got in a fight and the Giant won. My army of duskywings is still laying siege to the agastache with cooperation from some Long-Tailed skippers. I think they're trying to keep the plants from being occupied by the invading forces of the honeybees. The Dainty Sulphurs are almost big enough to be seen with the naked eye, LOL! All but one Black ST has gut purged and one tried to make his chrysalis atop another one; he stinkhorned me when I tried to move him slightly to the side. The Tersas are pooping like crazy but they don't eat so much penta that my plants look shabby. That's considerate of them.
Here's a Sleepy Orange I abducted. I found him on a cassia but it's not the same kind I have. So when I brought him home I gave him a little of my cassia and some of my native Senna alata. He went for the senna so I'm proud of him. Speaking of that senna, it had eggs all over it tonight! Oh, and one small cat that is definitely a sulphur but too small to identify. I moved that senna a few months ago to try and get more action on it so I'm glad to see my plan has worked.
Melanie (who's raising like ten kinds of caterpillars right now)
Can anyone tell me what kind of cat this is on my BF weed. Is it the same as the BF on it? I didn't know the BF weed was a host plant.
I THINK it might be a Monarch cat. Does it have two sets of antenna or three? The butterfly is a Queen. Both species use milkweed for host plants. That is Asclepias currassavica, a milkweed.
Linda it has 2 sets of antenna's. I have bunches of cats on that plant.
I am srry i just went out and looked and found a larger one and it has 3 sets of antenna's.
Congrast Mjs on that zebra!!!
Lee - the white butterfly looks like a Western White (Pontia occidentalis) very common to northwest states and very similar to the Checkered White (Pontia protodice) - which does get up to Oregon too. Based on the dorsal forewing markings and ventral side am leaning towards it being a male Western White. Don't hold me to that though...could also be a Spring form of a Checkered White :o) Confused ya now - didn't I?! :o)
The caterpillar in the Queen photo looks like a Monarch Caterpillar judging by the color - can't see if it has two sets or three sets of tubercles. Queen caterpillars tend to have more pronounced black markings near the base of the tubercles. (more pronounced? isn't that redundant :o)
Two sets of tubercles = Monarch
Three sets = Queen or Soldier
~ Cat
Thanks cat I think its a Queen or Soldier then.
Lee...we'll lean to Queen. Soldiers are common here during some times in the year but nobody has seen caterpillars - much less raised them. They look just like Queen cats - but in all the Queens I've raised - I've yet to have a Soldier.
~ Cat
Thanks Cat i am going to bring some of them in an keep an eye on them.
Just when I decided even the few GFs aren't reproducing in this heat...this evening I spotted folded leaves on my Velvetleaf Mallow. Oh yes, it looks like the Texas Powdered Skipper cats are back! I am so glad I decided to keep those plants years ago. In spite of their tendency to make tons of seeds. And even though I try to remove the seed heads, some always escape and produce more plants. But these sweet little cats and the blossoms that butterflies love make it all worthwhile!
Wow Linda! Lucky you!!! We've got that mallow growing wild at the ranch but I've yet to find any eggs, caterpillars or folded leaves and eaten leaves. I only see maybe 3 or 4 TSP each year out there. I'm envious :o)
~ Cat
Lee, judging by the "Queen vs Monarch' population in Florida,andddd the photos' I bet you have queen cats. I love the Queen's, rich and regal. And the cat's are just as "friendly" as the monarchs. Raise them the same way. I have found tho they do tend to be a bit more of the "escape" artist. As for me that's ok...I've raised more than one cat on the front (screened) porch. My main problem right not (besides needing more cat cages) is keeping the BST cats (Iok,,I;ll inclued the Guf "rabbits" errr meant Frits in the same post.