DAILY PICTURES #103

Not Monarch eggs...methinks.

Appreciate the input , I would imagine where you are ,you have seen many more than me .
Well I did see the Monarch BF today though , I will hope on , for them, and me maybe getting to raise a few so they can stay a while ..
Thanks again vitrsna

Here are some old pictures of monarch eggs. So tough to tell sometimes because of the milk that can form on the leaves. I think that's what your picture is Juhur.

The thing is when they do come here (the Monarchs) I have to look on the blue vines or sand vine Milkweed , They are really difficult to see or find there ,The Monarchs love the flowers on those vines !!!

Eastern Tailed-Blue

Nice capture of the ETB there Mrs. Ed. ^_^

Yes !!! Great little pic !!! ^_^

Thanks. Luck was with me!

Spicebush Swallowtail on Aug. 2, 2013. Anne Arundel County, MD

I like it ... Have seen a Red spotted purple(second day in a row on an apple tree.. and a Buckeye today. Seems to be a good year for SWT's

First Monarch siting for me this year. Only one (that i saw) was in the garden but she was an ovipositing female so i am happy about that. Usually i expect them September through December so i was surprised to see one so early in August. No photo though, but no mistaking the identity. Some variety recently, lots of Skippers, some Elfs, White Peacocks, Great Southern Whites, Fritillaries, along with the almost ever present Polydamas STs and Queens. Photos are still in the camera.

The BST cats are growing. I brought in 6 and today I found a big green one out on the fennel so I brought him in today that makes 7. There are a good half dozen out on the fennel.

yay! I released two females yesterday. Third should be out soon.

This Large Orange sulphur (male) (Phoebis agarithe) looks very yellow to me to be called "Orange", but the markings look right, didn't see the outer wings. He is on the Passiflora vine after feeding from some hibiscus flowers. Appears to be a new one.

Nice photo. Looks like a Large Orange Sulpher to me.

What is this little guy?

Red-banded Hairstreak.

Saw my first Buckeye of the season. Very lame season! ha ha a.

Thank you 2gardenkate!

Jokenna -- this is actually a Dusky-blue Groundstreak (Calycopis isobeon), a very close relative to the Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops). The narrow band of red on the forewing and the abundance of red over the black spots on the hindwing. Here's a Red-banded Hairstreak to use as comparison. We do get both here in Texas and sometimes there can be intermediates of the two.

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

lepfarmer thank you! They sure are tiny little things. I have seen a butterfly that looks like a monarch but with the orange and black swaped. More black than orange. I can't get a picture of it yet. I also saw a monarch the other day. Sure wished I had more flowers they like in my yard, working on it, but just not there yet.

This message was edited Aug 13, 2013 9:28 PM

This message was edited Aug 13, 2013 9:29 PM

Lepfarmer, thanks for the correction.

Awesome photo Dale.....wow. Great subject and composition.

Russell

Time magazine had an excellent article in the August 19 issue on "A World Without Bees" by Bryan Walsh and today another article on presence of neonicotinoids in commercial plants http://www.hortweek.com/Ornamentals/article/1207256/US-study-finds-bee-friendly-plants-contain-neonicotinoids/.
These systemic, persistent water soluble pesticides affect other organism as well. Be aware.

I couldn't get to that link (not a subscriber), but here is a shorter article that I read earlier today.


http://news.msn.com/science-technology/pesticides-harmful-to-bees-in-garden-store-plants

Thanks Mrs_Ed for the link. Neonicotinoids are systemic, persistent water soluble chemicals that are widely used as pesticides on seeds, plants, and animals. My concern is the subacute and chronic effect of these substances on other organisms such as butterflies, humming birds, and aquatic species.
I expect that low levels of a toxic substance in nectar, pollen, plant tissue will have severe adverse effects on earth's bio system.

I was out inspecting this morning and found this fresh GF hanging from the passiflora. I missed the opening by seconds!

Lucked out catching this GST in flight the other day...just downloaded the pics and surprise... :)


Russell

Whoops ...wrong picture

shorthog wrote

Russell, thanks for the reminder. Last year, Gulf frits were abundant and this year there are none in the Arkansas River valley.
I have lots of passion vine and flowers ready.

Shorthog...my Gulf frits were slow to arrive this year, but they are absolutely swarming now. There are 20 or so cats on my passion vine and I saw more oviposting this morning. The plant looks like someone shot it with a shotgun. :)

Russell

oh my gosh....just saw a Giant Swallowtail out the front window!!

Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) pupa a few days old and just prior to emergence of the butterfly.

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

Russell, it is wonderful to know that the Gulfs are there. It makes me hopeful that they will arrive soon.
I'm seeing lots of other butterflies in remote. wild areas especially those that like wild flowers or smelly rotting stuff. Whereas my yard flowers are almost devoid of BFs except for a few skippers that are harassed daily by dragonflies or the resident mocking bird.

Here are some BFs from this week.
1. Northern Pearly-eye
2. Tawny Emperor
3. Gorgone Checkerspot
4. Pipevine Swallowtail
5. Carolina Satyr

Well, this isn't a great pic and it's at the wrong angle, but it was one of very few butterflies I've seen this year (with the exception of ten gazillion Cabbage Whites).

Looking at my brand new BF Field Guide may have confused a bit, though I think it may be a "Blue" of some type. I think it looked similar to the one posted by Mrs_Ed a little ways back of an Eastern Tailed-Blue.

By-the-way, I just read the article from the link Mrs_Ed posted about pesticides at Lowes and other places. I wonder if anyone knows how long that lasts. I bought an Agastache last Autumn from Lowes. It was pretty cool by the time I planted it and it had very few blooms. This year, though, it's thriving and constantly covered with all types of bees. I don't use any pesticides at all of any kind. I wonder if the pesticides would remain in the roots and the new growth or if by now it would be pesticide-free? Any input?

While there is some individual variation within most butterfly species, generally the variation is minor. However, sometimes you can stumble across an individual that has colored waaay out of the lines of minor variation, as is the case with this aberrant female Queen (Danaus gilippus) that was flying around my yard this afternoon.

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

Cool Dale! Looks a little bleached out.

Russell

Dale...I saw one Queen similar to your "white-tipped" Queen a few days ago. Didn't have the camera with me, but i tried to get closer for a better look. No doubt it was a Queen. It is the only one i have seen like that in 5 years of hundreds of Queens per year in the garden.

I wonder if that could mean there may eventually be more of them?