Just a couple of the usual visitors today. A Gulf Frit hiding in the gaura and then a Zebra Longwing sucking on the porterweed. The Duskywings were out earlier but when I went out it was getting cloudy and most of the butterflies had disappeared. They probably know the rain is coming. Oh, I also found about fifteen more Polydamas cats that I missed yesterday.
Melanie
Good grief Mrs. Ed...BISON???????
Seeing lots and lots of Commas and /or Question Marks the last 2 days!
The number of butterflies also picking up here too. For instance, I've seen lone Silver-spotted Skipper, but the past few days I've seen them in pair. I've seen more Spicebush ST, RSP St, and this ETiger ST. What's a beauty!
A Bison? hmmm, I thought they are extinct. lol
All nice thread today!!! not many BF's today , About week until the BST's start hatching . try to see a few then if I can . Did see skipper and cabbage as usual ,
A big ol Giant yellow ringed Hornet , chased me from the garden this after -evening .. You know big black hornet with yellow bands on the Abdomen , real big !!!
We have Beefaloe a few miles west of here ..
I've been seeing lots of Cloudless sulphurs (Phoebis sennae) this month and they have been busy oviposting eggs on partridge pea plants. Since they were constantly moving, I couldn't get a photograph until yesterday. One decided to visit my Leopard lilies and pose for pictures. What a beautiful, big lemon.
By the way juhur7, Cicada killer wasp are out now and looking for cicada to feed their larva. They like some flowers and they don't sting.
Oh! It's such a beautiful image. :)
I agree about the image , that's a difficult pic to get , Yes SH Cicada & Wasps here lots ,
Hornets still my worry though ,
Wasn't feeling very good today (didn't sleep well) but I took a few pictures at the museum for you all to enjoy. First is a Polydamas ST hiding in these new orange flowers that I'm not sure what they are. Then, a Giant Swallowtail - we have a lot of these flying around right now. Next up is a Monarch. And finally, an Eastern Black Swallowtail.
I took my hundred or so Polydamas cats into the museum but I kept a few to raise here at home. I just don't have enough pipevine to raise as many as she laid! Lots of Polydamas flying in the gardens of the museum today - I found a bunch of caterpillars too, when I was cutting food for them. Also rounded up a bunch of monarch cats on some milkweed that my manager just purchased. All in all, we've got a pretty good diversity down here in Florida.
Melanie
Hi all, I got some good pics to share - one I think is a female dark morph Eastern swallowtail - also a silver spotted skipper - not sure about the little orange one.
Memays, you're right about the Tiger ST female dark form. Good shots! I think your little orange guy is some kind of Crescent.
Melanie
memays - I think the little orange one is a pearl crescent. I saw one here last year and I am not too far from Atlanta. Really hard to get a good picture, they are so small. Here's the best one I got.
I have released the majority of my butterflies.Still have some PVST, a few GST, and a handful of BST. I have now released upwards of 80 BST and used up every bit of 50 1 gal parsley plants. Queens are flying in big time, and again no matter how much milkweed I have, it is never enough.
With all the rain, the hyssop I have planted in nearby ditches and in the flower bed is doing great, bringing White Peacock #s up. Here is a Queen shot from today. I have been trying to get a shot of the Hairstreaks roosting but the weather has been crappy late in the day (shock)
Saw another Eastern SWT today A new BST hatched a flew away some while drying it's wings as Goldfinch came looking for cats . Goldfinch gets a few only not many .
lots of the smaller BF's are here.Nice weather for them I guess , Only as you all know , Not a Monarch have I seen , since one Early back in April I think that was . That is very Disappointing folks .. oh well , on with what we have .
They will come! Get your MW ready.
I hope everyone is ready for the monarch with plenty of milkweed. Since the population estimates in Mexico show a decline of 60 percent from last year. Which means that only four out of 10 will be returning. They need help but so does the planet and mother nature as the human population continues to increase.
I need milkweed. I would love to plant a couple of our acres in milkweed.
Just out in the front yard looking at the flowers and spotted a Monarch!! Odd for us at this time of year, hope it is just the start of some late season mating. I couldn't get a picture ....yet!
Odd indeed, Shelia, but I guess we hafta take what we can get (and give!).
I released my first BST today. It was the one whose cocoon had fallen to the bottom of the cage. I propped it standing upright in a bouquet of fennel that they had been munching on before the change.
And a Yellow Tigertail yesterday in the back 40. :)
Having Silver Spotted Skippers everyday, not much else. A cabbage white here and there. Court said he saw an orange sulfur in the yard over the weekend. We'll see if they've found my Cassia.
A.
That is very disturbing news to read, but seems to confirm what we are all experiencing. Still have seen none here, but did bring in 6 BST cats off the fennel.
I have seen a few go extinct over many decades ,, It is sad saying farewell ,,to another long time visitor to the garden..
I will miss them ,I will be frustrated I didn't care in time , and there was probably nothing I could of done as a few times previous .
It would of been neat if a geneticist could of developed an overwintering northern Monarch ,,
Every time I see a milkweed in the future I will remember them .. I wish I would of known why they existed , and why they are gone... G' is this depressing ,, (sigh)
I wonder how secure the western populations are.
I have seen these almost every day for over a week , wing parts usually missing only a whole one this afternoon , BST cats still on the fennel , no cats from pic couple though .
This message was edited Aug 2, 2013 2:50 PM
The Tiger ST host plants are mostly trees. I don't have many around here but still get a Tiger stopping for nectar every day or so.
A little gem..Ceraunus Blue on Lantana.
I saw a few monarchs, queens, GSTs and sulphurs, but none were cooperating for photos. It is very hot and windy outside. I think I will watch the BFs from inside today!
Russell
Well my Eastern friends are still here , they come by everyday for lunch and tea , they do .. lol
I just found out I have some Goldenrod that is getting ready to bloom. It apparently, replaced some Echinacea that drowned after too much rain. It was confirmed with some pics I posted on the Invasive Plants forum (I assumed it was something invasive).
I read that Butterflies love Goldenrod. That's great! The BF should enjoy it...if I ever get any this year. I wonder how late in Summer I could expect to still see some. This has never happened before :-(
I have Mourning cloak as early as Feb , and Mourning Cloak , Red Spotted Purple , Monarch , and Buckeye as late as Nov.
You may get to see a few yet .. warmer or warmest part of the day , is the best time to watch this year ..if and or when you can .
Fun with afternoon meditation ,,
Thanks juhur! That's encouraging.
A question ;? What is the best time of day to look for Monarch cats ?
I have seen them burning up during blazing sunshine , only I don't know if that is the best time to look .
Here we go !! I have not seen either of could be though .
Eggs and caterpillar chew on (you guessed it ,,Milkweed !!!) who's are they though?
Keep chasing beetles away , can't spray , gets difficult?
Are these BF eggs ?
The excitement of youth is building !!! well a better mood anyway lol
hey nutsaboutnature, be careful of allowing Goldenrod to grow, some areas consider it a nuisance weed and have laws about allowing it to grow on your property. Just a thought, I know our b'flys like it but...............
Juhur, I don't know that there is any specific time to look for monarch cats. I have found them at all times of the days. Look on the underside of leaves and in the area for frass.
Reading back I will watch for three or four days , could be .... might be fun to raise a few , Saw a couple of BST hatch and fly away , but there are a many Goldfinch and tree toad populations here , They can eat a lot , so I will hatch a couple of Monarchs if it works out that way ..
I don't want to say goodbye to them if I don't have to
It has been that I have never seen any when small , there are dust size white particle things , chewing from the leaf tip right down the center of the leaf know their white when they hatch , but these seem to small and are difficult even to see .
They look more like microbial worms the size of a very small pin head ..
This message was edited Aug 6, 2013 5:41 PM
I was wondering if they were spider mites to start with , but they eat too much , an aphid ,a whitefly or two , and lots of these at this time Oncopeltus fasciatus, the milkweed beetle .. oh well ..
Thanks quaqbe. I appreciate your input.
The first thing I did was check Chicago Botanic Garden's info on Invasives as well as their info on Goldenrods. They're one of the best sources for this area and also do different studies on all sorts of plant types.
There don't seem to be any issues here and they consider it a native plant. In fact there are about 20 Goldenrods that are common in our area.
They even talk about which ones are better for various sizes of gardens if you want to include them and mention that some are more aggressive than others.
I most likely won't keep it there permanently since It's a small bed. Besides, we're planning to turn that area into a raised bed to avoid the soggy problems we've frequently had. I am going to allow it to bloom this year, though, since it's covered with buds and appeals to a variety of friendly insects.
Thanks, again!
So I spent some time out of town last week.I have been eagerly checking the pipevine, when I returned I went to check, this 3yr old vine that was 15 or so feet and covered a whole trellis was gone, replaced only by a 1sq. Foot pile of frass.
Bummed out cause I did not get to raise any, but happy they are here.
Walking through the garden about lunch mid-day , my wit went AH-HA !!! Lo and behold there nectaring on the Jerusalem Artichoke flowers.. Was a Monarch !!!
First I have a good look at all year ,! came back for the cam and nowhere to be seen , didn't stay long ,, but I saw one , I saw one , I saw one ,, LOL
Should I have added Mommy Mommy or Daddy Daddy , I saw one to that ?
The mind is definitely delighted by this...
Okay ,, sorry for the attempt at humor ,,but the fact really was ,, I was believing I was not going to see any ,,
This message was edited Aug 7, 2013 5:27 PM
juhur...i'm sure it makes us all happy that you had a Monarch in your garden...happy and a little bit hopeful. i mean glory hallelujah...we need a bit of good news from your part of the world...hopefully there will be more. Have you checked for eggs? :-D
vitrsna: I looked for a while today , no new ones although a few things like caterpiller frass and chewed leaves were there in quantity today .Something is from say 3 o'clock to around 5 o' clock as to chewing and that ;'
9th post up, or (back) to the egg question (the pics there)
What would you all say? white mites , white fly clutter , broken plant chew , or BF eggs ? Opinions , anyone?
Like always I forgot something , I saw a Hummingbird when I went out to take that pic , little Ruby Throated , shy of the camera and zoomed away !
This message was edited Aug 7, 2013 6:25 PM
