Daily pictures #98

Monday my DH was out while I was working in the yard and took these pics. Lots of BFs around that day. There were a couple Monarchs but he kept missing them.
American Lady?
Buckeye
noid Skipper
Queen

Anytime I see any butterfly, I am thankful. I remember the drought, fires and hurricanes wiping out so many last year.

Hard to find but this is a Red Admiral in the leaves and a snout on mistflower. My cowpen daisy is on it's last legs, but has been great for the bfs this year.

Nice pics, Sheila. I love those Buckeyes. They almost look like velvet.

I have been overrun with GFs, cloudless sulphurs and orange barred sulphurs. I have about 15 waiting to eclose. I am pretty excited because I have never had any sulphurs in my BF habitat. They have been thick on the candlestick plant this fall. Can't wait to see them all emerge.

Russell

I had lots of BFs show up on a sunny Tuesday. The same ones as usual except for a couple of sulphurs and a Phaon crescent. I was able to get pics of a cloudless (aka big lemon) and dainty sulphurs but the clouded was to evasive.
1. Cloudless sulphur
2. Phaon crescent
3. Dainty sulphur

Have a nice Thanksgiving.

Thanks Shorthog! Lots of flying out there today, but too busy to take any pictures. Hope everyone has a super Thanksgiving!

Here is a pic of one of the sulphurs in the BF habitat...you can see a GF just behind it on the right side of the pic. I couldn't get a picture of the other variety of sulphur...they are way at the bottom of the habitat...strange that they don't make their chrysalis at the top like the rest.

This looks like the cloudless sulphur to me.

Russell

Russell, that's one beautiful chrysalis! Please add that to the bugfile. Oustanding picture! Happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone.

Russell, that is one fantastic photo of the sulfur chrysalis! Please keep us posted as to the species and do post it in bugfiles when you find out.
When I first started raising cats I took in a bunch of Gulf Frits and it is so funny the way they lean and move with the sun and other outside influences.

Russell, don't you love that pink tinge to the sulphur chrysalis?

Hope everyone had a great holiday! I awoke from my turkey-induced coma to find a Zebra Longwing had emerged. I thought all the chrysalises were empty but apparently I missed one.

Also, for those of you who remember, I used to volunteer at the Museum of Science and Industry in their Butterfly Flight Encounter exhibit. I had to give it up due to my health, but since I started this new thyroid medicine I've been feeling a lot better and I decided to start volunteering again! So expect some great photos from there as well as from my own backyard.

Melanie

I'm so thankful of our friends here on the forum. Melanie, it's such great news. I'm so happy for you. Happy Thanksgiving to you and everyone.

Lovely Zebra Longwing.

Melanie....So delighted and I know those there will be excited to have you back again. You are a wealth of knowledge, glad your meds are helping you enjoy life again.

Great news Melanie! I'm looking forward to your posts. Getting snow here

Beautiful day today...and a few more visitors.

GF on Hummingbird Sage
Great Southern White resting on Desert Rose
Red Admiral on Duranta
GF on trailing lantana
Double Queens on Vitex

Russell

And a couple more

Queen on....Plumeria??? Never seen anything nectar on those!
White-striped Longtail on Duranta.

We shall see what the afternoon brings.

Russell

I like that White Striped Longtail; I wish I had those here. Nice pictures, Russell!

Melanie

Thanks Melanie. That is only the 2nd WSLongtail I have seen in my yard...both times on Duranta...that seems to be the winning plant around here lately.

I just caught a glimpse of what I think was a julia heliconian - a variety I have never seen in my yard. I thought it was a GF at first, but it was almost totally orange and didn't have the pealescent underwing like the GF. I chased it around the yard a few times, but couldn't get a pic. My brother had just sent me a picture of a zebra heliconian he caught nectaring on his lantana...this is another variety I have never seen in my yard. I guess they are on the move today.

Should be able to post a couple more pics later today. There is still a lot of activity outside. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Russell

Well, the evasive one returned!

First sighting of a Julia Heliconian in my yard

The ever present GF...If you look closely, you can see a crab spider in defensive mode...LOL.

Both of these were nectaring on Jatropha Multifida.

Russell

Well, I went back to volunteering at MOSI today. Not too much going on this time of year; I released a couple of Queens, Zebra Longwings, a Brazilian Skipper, and a couple of Long-Tailed Skippers. Didn't find any caterpillars.

But...I came home and watered my orchids and decided to walk over to the senna to see if I could find some sulphur cats. Instead I found - an Io Moth caterpillar! I've never seen one in real life so I was excited, but not so excited that I tried to touch it! It gives fair warning with what my brother says looks like sandspurs all over its body. I like the stripe down the side; what a cool-looking caterpillar!

Melanie

I went back outside to see if I could find more caterpillars (of any kind). I found two Cloudless Sulphurs on the senna. I also saw a Gulf Frit flying around. I saw, but couldn't photograph, a Long-Tailed Skipper and many Cassius Blues. I also picked some Zebra Longwing eggs and brought them inside. At the museum I saw all of the above plus a Monarch flying around. So there are still some butterflies out there despite the cooling temperatures.

Melanie

I hope this link works. This was on last Sunday night's local news. Richard Ray has been kind enough to do a number of stories on me over the years (helps that I have a weird way of making a living) and of the Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7974097

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

Russell quite a variety of butterflies you have in TX...I really like the GSW on the desert rose, what a beauty.

Mellie I saw that same moth caterpillar over at Wekiwa Springs last month, pretty cool looking caterpillar, never seen any like that before.

Lily pretty lil blue bird capture.

Dale I watched the video, how wonderful to see your butterfly habitat. I sure would love to visit sometime if I'm ever in TX. Thanks for posting the link and sharing. ☺



This message was edited Nov 25, 2012 3:35 PM

It worked great Dale! Only problem was the sound it seemed low...so turn up the sound folks. I was going to make the meeting Sat, but woke up with a spliting headache. Maybe Feb.

Great pics. everyone. You guys make me wanting to move further South-- so I can enjoy butterflies longer in the growing season. lol. Those io moths cats are cool looking Melanie and Sherri. Dale, my firefox browser didn't let me open your file, it asked me to down load a new flash player version.... :((

Sheila hope you feel better.

Not many butterflies are seen here, we just got our first freeze. :((

Found this aberrant Gulf Fritillary in the yard today. Pretty stunningly weird.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

Ok Dale...made me look up that word!! For those of you who like me didn't know LOL!:
www.thefreedictionary.com/aberrant
ab·er·rant ( b r- nt, -b r -). adj. 1. Deviating from the proper or expected course. 2. Deviating from what is normal; untrue to type. n. One that is aberrant.

Hey Sheila...I resemble that remark...

But when have bug photographers ever been considered normal... :)
I was just outside trying to get pictures of the numerous moths that are nectaring before dark...even MORE challenging than the butterflies that buzz around during the day!

Dale, maybe you can help ID these.

Sorry, couldn't get a great picture of the 1st one...they are very fast.


Russell

Russell:
Both are sphinx moths. The first is Obscure Sphinx (Erinnyis obscura); the second and third are Mournful Sphinx (Enyo lugubris). Your shots look great. It's really difficult to get good shots of those sphinx moths.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

Thanks for the quick ID Dale. I really appreciate your vast knowledge. I have never seen the Mournful sphinx before tonight. It was rust colored and didn't dark around as much as the others. There were 2 other types buzzing around, but I lost all of my light and couldn't focus the camera fast enough. It is interesting to watch the moths just before dark, they come in like the night shift and take over the garden. I have been watching them the last few days and finally figured out the right camera setting to catch them.

Any theory about the cause of the variance in color on that GF? interesting find!

Russell

Great shots Russel!

Thanks Shelia for the vocab lesson. I would've had to look it up also. ☺

Russell you got some pretty good shots of the moths, they are very hard to photograph. I saw the second one, Mournful Sphinx, thanks to Dale's ID, in my garden last night.

Saw three yellow sulphur butterflies in the garden today, bet they are those cats that were on my Cassia. I tried to photograph them, they were pretty quick, not sure if they'll turn out. Also had a long tailed skipper, small one flying around too.

I wasn't sure the Io Moth was really eating senna, so I put some wisteria in the cage as well. (I read in my book they eat wisteria.) Sure enough, today I saw him eating the wisteria even though it was kind of dried out. I went and got him some fresh stuff so hopefully that will keep him happy. Other than that, it's pretty slow around these parts.

Melanie

Russell:

In answer to your question about what would cause such an aberration in the Gulf Fritillary, genetics would certainly play a part (a pre-disposition to do this after a trigger). In this case, the trigger was almost certainly fluctuations of temperature extremes at a crucial development point while still in the chrysalis stage. We've certainly been having some massive fluctuations in temps here lately (80+ degrees one day, into the 30s the next). That's my guess, anyway.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

People often ask me what is my favorite butterfly nectar plant. It changes with the different times of the year, but in autumn, by far the best is Crucita (Chromolaena odorata)((formerly Eupatorium odoratum)). It blooms in the fall and is always covered with various species of butterflies. This shot was taken last week after a couple of mild freezes knocked out most of the other nectar sources in the yard (I covered this plant so it wouldn't get burned).

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

Another obscure sphinx...better shot than the last one...this one was much more photogenic! This is becoming a nightly ritual...get home from work and run outside to see what kind of buzzing creatures I might find.


Russell

Just re-found this thread. I think I need to ask "Santa" for a book on butterflies. Have a lot in the yard and all I call them is "pretty". Guess I should start learning their names & what to plant to make them stay around. My Lantana is always full of them. My Passion Vine is beginning to recover.

Sounds like a great gift!

Hi Qwilter, glad your found your way back. I've picked up free books at the Florida State park offices of butterflies. Just has Florida butterflies but nice little pocket book.

Dale that is an awesome photo of all those butterflies on the bush. I've seen that bush here in Florida, a bit more south of where I live when out camping. I asked someone what it was and they called it Jack-in-the-bush. It is a butterfly magnet.

Wow, nice plant Dale. Hope you will have some propagated by the next sale. I may have to make a trip to Dallas for that. You need to add your georgeous pic to PlantFiles...it only has two. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31887/ And it shows one of the common names is "Jack - in - the - bush" sunkissed!

Sheila -- I'll try to do that. Both the photos on the plantfiles page for Eupatorium odoratum / Chromolaena odorata are wrong. Definitely not the plant. The plant will definitely be offered at the Texas Discovery Gardens plant sale on April 20th next year. I'll be glad to make you a cutting. It survives pretty well up here in north Texas considering it's native range is down in the Rio Grande Valley.

Qwilter - the best book for butterfly identification that I always recommend is "Field Guide to Butterflies of North America" by Jim Brock and Kenn Kaufman. It covers all of North America, but it has range maps so you can quickly look and see if something is in Florida or not.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com