I decided to take my mesh container of BST chrysalises down into the basement today where it doesn't get above 50 degrees this time of year.
It's forecast to be almost 70 degrees tomorrow, and I don't want there to be any confusion about what time of year it is!!! :/
A.
Daily Pictures #93
A.
Don't you love this weather? It's been an amazing winter but I'm scared our trees and plants are going to suffer come April. Tulips are popping up and buds on all trees and roses.
Kathy
Amanda I imagine all this crazy weather can play such havoc on butterfly harvesting. My husband ready yesterday where the bears are coming out of hibernation early, I think the animals know more than we do and a good sign winter will end early this year.
Here is some interesting info on the Florida Monarch...
http://adver-net.com/aboutFLM.html
I find it hard to believe but I noticed holes in the leaves and sure enough.....
And six that I count of these....yeah that is cat dung...so I bet I end up finding another..way too much chew for just one. I guess I better get my seeds planted.
Congrats! lol
Holy caterpillar!!!
We are in for a roller coaster ride this season, aren't we?! Better get started with my seeds too - and how!!!
xox
A.
p.s. Over 70 here today. Glad I took the BST to the basement yesterday.
Sherri, I've zone envy big time. Is there affordable property near you? Mean while I'd better get packed. lol
Oh Sunkissed, that is such a welcome sight.
I brought a monarch cat in on Sunday because it was so cold outside and it just looked miserable. I fed it some leaves from my milkweed and kept it inside. Today I have a chrysalis! Hopefully we will get a successful eclose soon.
Russell
You guys take good care of those cats, so they can fly north later!!
That's awesome Russell. :)
Hey all we just got back from a week camping and I still have two nice sized cats on my milkweeds. Last night it dipped, or I should say early this morning to 33 for about an hour or two. I brought in my tender container plants in to the FL room last night and one cat is on a container milkweed plant, so it is inside the warm FL room. This morning I see another cat on a milkweed outside, it is not moving but still on the underside of a leaf. It is to get down to 34 again tonight, should I remove the cat and bring it in and place on the other milkweed? I don't know how cold of temps they can take. It should get up to low 50's today and sunny, should I wait until later to see if it moves again?
Sherri
I don't think an overnight drop would hurt it, as long as it warmed up during the day. Sometimes they will drop to the ground and get in leaf litter until they warm up too.
But if you want to bring it in, clip the stem or leaf it is on rather than disturbing it. It could be trying to shed skin and you would cause damage by moving it.
Thanks Shelia, I did just clip the leaf and brought it in and laid it in the milkweed pot, within a few minutes it started moving around again and now is up on the plant chomping away. yeah! I feel better now.
Sherri
Way to go Sherri!!!
I know you were not one to bring them in when I was a nervous wreck, wringing my hands over them. Be careful!!!! ;)
A.
Good job!
It is sleeting and snowing here in north central TX tonight. :-(
Well it was a good thing I did, the bird bath was frozen solid this morning, it was 34 when I went to bed at midnight last night. They are both in the FL room happily chomping away with no idea how cold it is outside. This weather is so crazy, they say in two days it will be back up to 80 here.
Thanks for the help with my cats!
Sherri
Opps..guess I don't have this new 5 photo thing down yet...lol
Sherri - thanks for the smile. :)
A.
12 days later, we have a newly eclosed monarch! I took it outside and placed it on my milkweed plant....seems happy to me.
Russell
How nice Russell!
My three cats have gone off now to pupate, two on Friday and the last one left yesterday sometime. I looked around for them but have so many plants, figure they are in my Podocarpus hedge somewhere.
Last week the three of them had devoured the only fresh leaves I had on my milkweed plant, I had to run out to find more for them. It wasn't easy to find this time of year. I went to my local garden center and they had cut all theirs back and so went to the home depot and Lowe's, nothing...I was about to panic, then found some at a garden center, they just got it in that very day. I bought two yellow milkweed plants not flowering yet but had lots of fresh new leaves. Put those pots up next to my other plant and they happily moved over to it. I planted many milkweed seeds and have some coming up that reseeded around the garden, but none nowhere near to providing food for the cats. Monarchs are visiting daily, I see one or two fluttering around the flowers.
Today I see I have another new caterpillar, so good thing I bought more plants.
What do ya'll do for aphids on your milkweed? I have some milkweed in pots in the greenhouse and the tops are covered with aphids (going to cut them back and burn for now) guess I need to order some ladybugs.
I blast them with the sprayer attached to my water hose. I hold the affected stalk(s) in one hand and point the sprayer with the other, spraying them with the "jet" setting. It works fairly well for small areas and seems to keep them off for a good while. Catching them before they are out of control is difficult, but makes a lot of difference.
Good luck...now if I could just figure out a way to get rid of white flies!
Russell
I was told by my nursery that is totally organic, as I am that milkweed aphids difficult to get rid of. I had them pretty bad last year during the really hot humid months, I just carefully would inspect to make sure no larvae or eggs and just squish them in my fingers, kind of gross but it actually worked to tone them down some...you do need a really good close up eye sight. I will not use chemical insecticides, as they may kill my Monarch eggs and larvae. I would be afraid that using the water spray would also spray off cats and eggs. Generally, these aphids will not disturb the milkweeds or the Monarch larvae.
As far as white flies I only had that problem one time and think I bought the plant with the problem, it was a just cut back plant, so I cut it back again, and then sprayed the soil with soapy water and alcohol. The plant grew back fine and had no more white flies and it the one my three caterpillars just devoured.
those are beautiful sights to me up here in the north. Can't wait to see my first cat, though it's months away.
FL & south TX you rock! So excited to see the new cats meaning it is right around the corner until we will see spring butterflies. I need to pull back the leaves off of my mw today so they will be ready for the spring migration. I will be warm this week maybe they will start putting out some growth. I can always blow leaves back on the beds if a freeze is coming.
As for aphids, I squish them after checking for cats and eggs too. I will clip the tops only if I have cats or eggs with a bad infestation. I put them in a container until the cats are larger then destroy the aphids.
There were quite a few visitors today in the yard today. I saw 1 gulf frit, some sort of black swallowtail - I never got a good look at it, several monarchs, a couple of red admirals and a bunch of small skippers. All of them were camera shy, though. I didn't get any good pictures at all...I am just happy to see them around. This time last year, it was barren around here and we were recovering from a deep freeze!
Hope you all get some visitors soon.
Russell
I saw a cabbage white flit thru the garden today. I was surprised! But then again, the honey bees are out as are all manner of flies and other "things." :D
I am checking my 19 BST cats/chrysalises everyday, just to be sure. They don't get hit with direct sun, but I open the door wide in the afternoon so they get the reflected/ambient light and outdoor temp.
Sowing my MWs this week. LOTS. Don't want to get caught like I did last year worrying about whether I had enough to feed the cats. I think I will stagger my A. curassavica to have some in varying stages as the cats seem to prefer it.
Also - I think I am going to forego the Cassia/senna this year. It was sooooo much work and anxiety. :/
Glad to hear from Sherri and Russell. Now we all have the bug. :P
A.
I noticed last nigh I have four Gulf frit cats on my Lady Margaret passiflora. There isn't much new growth since it froze back pretty good. I didn't see any last year..so this is a good sign. I also have four new Monarch cats on my milkweed.
As far as flying around, have seen Monarch, really nice sized clouded yellow, and lots of long tailed skippers. I haven't seen any Gulf frits flying around recently, but they must have been.
Not something from my yard, but thought I'd post it anyway. This is a Forest Giant Owl (Caligo eurilochus), one of the new butterflies that we're flying at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden's live butterfly exhibit from March 3rd - April 8th. The first ones emerged today and I've begun releasing them into the conservatory. These guys are really cool -- and huge!
Not as dazzling, but I did see a good number of butterflies in my yard today -- Orange Sulphurs, Question Marks, Gulf Fritillaries and a Red Admiral. It was 82 degrees today and it felt great!
Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com
That's one pretty looking butterfly there Dale. Glad to hear some of us get to enjoy those beautiful butterflies early in the season. I saw some type of Sulphur flitting about the other day. Those are the first to come out in the season. I'm glad to see them. Also, I collected some wild senna seeds last Fall. I sow about a dozen of them after I soaked them in hot water for 8+ hours. Glad to report I've 100% germination.
Oh I like that butterfly Dale...it dazzles me.
Oohhh! I can't wait to see that one in person Dale. It looks a bit ghostly velvet! Nice new one!
Sheila -- yes, the Owls are pretty spectacular. We've gotten three different species so far. The down side is that, like the Morphos, they close their wings when they land and only rarely open them to bask. Will you be at the training day on Thursday? If so, I'll see you then.
Dale
A few visitors today. These were a little more cooperative than the last group. Everything seemed to be attracted to purples and pinks today.
In order...my guesses
Fiery skipper, unknown moth, monarch, red admiral, tropical checked skipper.
Russell
Fabulous pics. Russell. Wow. Your unknow moth is a Tersa Sphinx moth, I think. I wanted to be where you're! lol
Thanks for the ID!...I looked and looked through moth pictures on the Internet trying to find it and finally gave up. I think it must have been newly hatched. I brought it inside and showed the kids, at first it couldn't fly, it looked like it was running along the ground. After a couple of minutes of "running," it took off and never looked back. Kind of a dreary day here, but the Bfs don't seem to mind.
Russell
Oh again, so great to see all these butterflies!!
I've seen one of those Owls before and they are so huge!
Good Lord, Russell, I have to look you up on the map to see where this butterfly haven is!