This is a first for me here in Ohio.
While doing a few things this evening out in the greenhouse I thought I saw something strange, at least strange for the middle of December. 18 degrees and plenty of snow and I see this on one of my very few flowering Alstroemeria. Must of hatched out some where in the greenhouse earlier today.. Had to use flash. The lights in the greenhouse arn't that bright..
Dave
Wow! That is super special, but unfortunate at the same time. They overwinter in chrysalis but since the gh is warmer it was fooled into thinking it was spring. I guess you will be entertaining it for a few weeks. Good that you have some blooming plants.
I guess something you brought in was close to it's host plant.
Caterpillar hosts: Leaves of various plants including wild cherry (Prunus), sweetbay (Magnolia), basswood (Tilia), tulip tree (Liriodendron), birch (Betula), ash (Fraxinus), cottonwood (Populus), mountain ash (Sorbus), and willow (Salix).
A very nice shot of a beautiful butterfly!
Bob
That's amazing! I see so many Tiger Swallowtails in the summer. Lots of tulip poplars behind my house. To see one in winter (even in a green house) is almost surreal.
Awesome photo!
Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing & giving us a boost of color for winter time!
The selfish and insesitive side of me says, awesome, what a treasure to have one living in your greenhouse this time of the year. Yet the tender and nature loving side feels for it, being fooled by human technology, into coming out at a time when there's nothing for it but doom in it's future, unless of course, your greenhouse also has a suitable mate for it and plenty of food for them and their offspring. But, don't let me bring you down too much. After all, It's not like you planed this to happen to it. So, chin up and enjoy this bitter / sweet moment, while you can.
that's right Strange2u as the butterflies live only a short while even when it's "their time" so this is just as good a time!!! hahahaha
cindylove, you're right. I just hate to see it starve to death, and not have the chance to procreate.
indeed Strange2u
Hey everyone!,,, Good news and bad news...
The good news is the tiger is still alive and seems to be doing good except for some signs of minor wing damage from flying around and rubbing it's wings on the walls of the plastic at times. It favors the southeast corner of the greenhouse to spend the nights.. I've made it a couple mud pies on plates which it spends time on everyday.. Daytime temps are anywhere from 70 to 85 degrees depending on how much sun there is.. Night times are down to 50.. I have a couple more alstroemeria getting ready to bloom and one clematis with a couple blooms. To bad the butterfly bushes are dormant. I never thought about it till now but I could try hanging one of the hummingbird feeders in there and see if it would go after the sugar water..
The bad news is I found two more chrysalis. One on the lower frame boards of the greenhouse, and the other on the back side of a plastic chair.. I put the chair facing the north side and in front of the chrysalis on the lower board to try and keep them cool and shaded so they won't be hatching to soon..We'll see if that works..
Sheila, I think the caterpillers just found their way in before I closed up the sides in the fall. There is plenty of host trees around.. I guess that is why there is so many of these around in the summer.
Dave
Sugar water is certainly a possibility as there are some feeders for butterflies that say to add nectar..which is probably sugar. I wonder if Swallowtails are fruit "eaters"..then you could put out some rotting fruit.
Why didn't I think of that? It's a great idea cindylove. You might find helpful ideas at www.allfreecrafts.com/nature/butterfly-food.shtml, unclegreenthumb. If you don't have any old fruit around, you can try to get a market or restaurant, to either give or sell you (at a discounted price), some unsellable or unuseable fruit.
I wished you lived closer Greenthumb as I just found a bag full of bananas that I didn't see so they went rotten of course!! I thought of you though hahaha. They are now in my freezer awaiting springtime for me to put out for the Red Admirals!!!!! Or banana bread, whichever comes first!! hahahahahahaha
That's true Strange2u some grocery stores will give you their rotting materials.
What gave me the idea for sugar water was seeing so many different butterflies on the hummingbird feeders last summer. I did get some mixed fruit and put it on a plate. That worked fine, for the next two days until a jumping spider got a hold of it. Needless to say that did the yellow winged wonder in.. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy it for three weeks or better.. I put one of the other chrysalis in the cold frame so it wouldn't be hatching out to soon. The other I think is low enough attached to one of the base boards that it should stay cool. That one might hatch early though once I start heating up the place a little warmer next month when I start sowing seed. At least there should be more plants blooming by then..
Thanks for all the help and suggestions cindylove & strange2u.
Dave
look forward to more postings from you come the warmer weather!!!!! :0)
