Giants ......pigs......frogs??? Oh, read that a bit too fast.....LOL! Really just sleepy, couldn't resist.
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 75
Giant pig butterflies?
I had the most amazing experience last night. I went outside at about 8 pm and was met with a small "swarm" of Red Admirals. It has been an amazing year for them. The were moving too fast to get an accurate count, but I'd guess there were about 10. They were doing that "dance" in groups of 2 and 3. Some were landing, most were flying. They were also flying about the air conditioner, which they seem to love. It was a little surreal.
Oh man...that had to be sooo cool Mrs. Ed!
The RAs are really fast flying. I wonder if they had a host plant near the a/c unit? They use false & stinging nettles, pellitory, and of course hop trees.
Nope, none of that there. Ostrich Fern, columbine, violet, corabells, hosta, impatiens.
This seems to be more of a flight thing, like they like playing in the air coming up from the AC. But last night they were everywhere. I've never seen so many Red Admirals as this year. Hope that rings true for the others!
Me too!
They're out there again tonight!
I live in Northern Va. I don't see any butterflys yet. I have 5 butterfly bushes.(Not in bloom yet) Milkweed, Dill Fennel, Parsley, Lantana Coneflower and others. Just waiting. I love all of your posts!
You need to video that MsEd!!
CTindell....check your parsley and dill for the Black Swallowtails...babies are tiny!
I'll see what I can do regarding the video. Not sure it would show up. I suspect they might be out there tonight, because I have about 5 in the garden right now. My chives are a hit.
Sheila, will the BST's larva hide in the dirt to pupate? I saw them last year, but then they all disappeared about the 5th instars.
Hellloooo my friends! I had a great weekend doing my Emmaus walk & now I am anxious to tell you my news!!!! I found a solitary caterpillar on my parsley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think it's a tiger swallowtail ..only because I think I saw an adult flying around the other day..on the west side of the house. My parsley is on the east side. The reason why I am not sure is because I am not sure if parsley is a host plant. The caterpillar looks almost like a Monarch but since seeing the pictures you folks here have posted it is possible it's a Painted Lady. I only hope this little fella gets to live!!!! I haven't got any way to protect it..yet.
What I did was turn the parsley plant around so the head of it was almost engulfed by the butterfly bush.
Needless to say I am THRILLED!! I have taken photos but of course, it's with film!! hahahahahahaha
I have no intention of missing the tour of Dale's farm!!! In fact..there is a field trip coming up June 5! DH & I are loving every one, as we are learning so much & I hope to have a butterfly habitat by nexy year!!
I love all your photos! Mellie... you "lucky ducky"!! hahahaha
I didn't see any today. I will keep checking and post pictures if I see any.
I saw lots of Hairstreaks around yesterday....I didn't get any photos.
*chuckle* Check out this picture. It's my attempt at catching those rascally Red Admirals at play in the evening.
Lily....no the bfs don't bury in the litter or dirt, they all make chrysalis. If they were larger instarts then look around on the house, a strong plant or a metal structure. They will crawl away from the plant to pupate. Here is a Monarch that went 12 foot to pupate.
Cindy...the 5th is the San Marcos RU so I will miss this field trip too.
As for the caterpillar...almost certain you have a BST because the GST doesn't use parsley. Look on Dales site for the host plant list by butterfly to see what it may have laid eggs on nearby. Oh and the first instar of the GST is brown/rust red, then it looks like bird poo after that. The BST has a white band around the middle in first instar then changes to stripes later.
Ms Ed....they look like ghost! LOL!
Thanks Sheila for your reply. Marna, I just read your article on raising cats. Great write-up. I'm tagging that one. Thanks for attempting the pic. of RAs at play. lol. Likes Sheila said, they're ghost-like. lol
I've all kind of hostplants, but where are all the cats.? I've tropical milkweeds that are blooming,so is this butterfly bush. But no cats. are found!
Hey thanks. That was from last year. I suggested they re-run it because y'all down south are seeing cats!
What have you seen flying, Kim? I've only really seen Red Admirals and Spring Azures in my yard. I wouldn't even think to look for swallowtail cats yet, until I start seeing some.
It has been a good butterfly year. I'm going to miss DG. But sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do. After they take down Dave's new site, that's it. But it's going to be hard for me to leave.
Marna, I saw some TST, and black and blue bfs, can't be sure if they were RSP or what not. LindaTx, huh, what, where, how, and why you're leaving? Do you know something that I don't?
See Dave's Garden forum, thread called: Could we have some honesty here, please?
I can't post a link, they've been automaticly deleting any link to that thread and banned one subscriber who posted links to it on multiple forums.
I wanted to share with you all a picture of one of my Gulf fritillary caterpillar. They are being hosted on one of my Passiflora vine and they are loving it. There are caterpillars in different stages of development. There was a really big one but I didn't see it today. Maybe it pupated and I can't find it. Well here is the photo.
oooo NICE
Congrats Roly0217! That baby too is about to pupate. I thought I saw a GF flitting about today, I hope that it was for I couldn't get a good look at it. I'm ready, I'm ready.
Besides the GF I see daily in the morning a big yellow and black one striped fluttering around the neighbor's shrub. Could it be a swallowtail??
I bet it is the Tiger ST Roly....Look it up on DG bugfiles and see.
Nice shot of the GF, I usually have a lot of those here, but I think the freeze got those that overwinter this year. They will rebound but hasn't happened yet.
These G.Fs have started using this Bamboo to roost. They swirl around at the end of the day fighting for the best spots.
The one on the left looks like he had a run in with a bird.
There is the Queen..
Awwww, how nice that's to have so many at one time.
Mrs. Ed...love the ghost shot!!
I saw a nother monarch today!!! I was going out to get the mail and one flitted right by me.
Glad your bfs are so active Viceroy!
Roly...did you id the yellow striped one yet? Was it a TST?
Thank you Ms. Shiela I have been working very hard at it and it is nice to share with others who appreciate it. I don't have enough time to farm them but we have a nice time watching.
I did see the yellow striped one but only flying really fast overhead so couldn't get a picture of it. I guess I needed to be up a bit earlier. I went out with camera in hand. Since I knew now what to look for as far as the Gulf Fritillary pupa was this is what I found.
And a little bit closer
And one of the GFs was very friendly today. It even landed on my hand for a split second until it realized that I wasn't a shrub but it let me take some very close up pictures.The camera lens was less than 1 inch away from it.
And now sideways
And finally it's back
Roly, how fun!
Great shots, especially the second and third ones....you need to load those on the Bugfiles entry.
Here is the link....
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/9/