CA or anyone, what could a novice like me look at on a flying black butterfly to tell quickly if Black, Spice or Tiger dark swallowtail?
DAILY PICTURES # 106
Steady, a really good question which I don't have a good answer. Since these species as well as the Red Spotted Purple and Diana frit "mimic" Pipevine Swallowtail they are very difficult to ID in flight for me. They can be separated rather easily with pictures of below view but some can be confusing with only an above shot.
Hopefully, lepfarmer has some tips on inflight recognition..
Whoa! I just now saw my very 1st Monarch in the garden! Just ran for the camera, maybe I'll be lucky!
Had 3 of the ones I brought indoors eclose today. One died and I released two. They seem healthy. In the last photo she was moving so funny exposure.
I released 3 more today. One had a wing that did not inflate correctly so she probably wont make it.
Well their trying ! and your trying ! Better than none !!! better than nobody helping them !!!^_^
Likes what juhur7 has said, for those of us that raise butterflies. We're doing our best for them; and the joy of watching our success, but undeniably we're sad nevertheless when some butterflies didn't make it. steadycam3, it's wonderful to have Monarch cats in the Spring where you're. Here, in the spring I can only see one here and there, not until the fall when I have the pleasure of seeing/raising their caterpillars. So congrats. I saw a yellow tiger -swallowtail on my viburnum today while worked in the garden. Also saw a dark/black swallowtail, or was that a Red-spotted Purple, I couldn't be sure.
Monarchs are about a lost hope in this direction ,
My First Butterfly sighting of the season today !!! A Red Admiral , It was in the Nettle while I was Gathering tea Leaves .
Anything that looks dusty or brown or resembles Bird Poop goes back in the main clump . Must be working some anyway as they keep returning ,,,
Finally some life in my garden. I am letting the bouquet dill go to seed and found several of these little guys munching away today. Never saw the adult laying her eggs, but I am excited about this. I have tons of milkweed in bloom and haven't seen a monarch one. I will take what I can get at this point. :)
Russell
what a lovely bouquet!
What kind of cats are on the dill? I have some dill growing, but it is fernleaf dill - I wonder if it will work!
memays , Those are SWT , Swalowtail cats . Look like Black Swallowtail cats to me , But yakmon will have to tell you what species ,
We released a BST this weekend. No pictures - I wasn't home when it happened, and it looks like we had predation in the closet over the winter! :(
I know fernleaf works, just ask kittriana.
I forgot to get back here to say I released 3 more Monarchs the following day. Also yesterday I saw the one with the damaged wing again so I attempted a wing repair using the wings from the first one to eclose that died. I did a terrible job but she was strong and feeding well all day yesterday. I definitely need more practice with that skill.
I had brought in 8 and 6 were released. A seventh one eclosed fine but while I was at work and the heat in the window was too much for her. By the time I discovered her she was gone. The other one I brought in made a chrysalis but never eclosed. I already have new baby cats outdoors.
Pale-banded Crescent (Phyciodes tulcis), caterpillar (1" [2.5cm] long), pupa, butterfly resting on Choisya ternata. There are a dozen or so zooming around today. The host plant was Ruella.
Yep Juhur, they are BST cats. I love them. Memays, I believe any type of dill will work to bring them in. I noticed that one of the 5 migrated from the dill in favor of rue (I have all of my herbs planted close together). I am debating whether to bring them in or not...we have a lot of wasps around here and some times they disappear from the plants. My daughter is in favor, so I am sure they will be in tonight!
Russell
vitrsna, love the Pale-banded Crescent photo history. Saw several butterflies in the back yard this sunny afternoon after a 30 degree early morn. A Red Admiral was interested in some sweet beer by the fence and a Silver spotted skipper and a male Eastern Tiger ST nectared the ever blooming verbena.
CA, what is sweet beer? Purty pictures!
Vitrsna, Is the Ruellia that is the host plant for the banded crescent the regular Mexican Petunia?
Yes, Steady. I believe in the US the plant is commonly called Wild Mexican Petunia or Mexican Petunia. The genus name is Ruellia and i believe the species is tuberosa. Here is a photo of my plant and also a photo of the upper wings of the Pale-banded Crescent. You live in an area where this butterfly can be found :-)
Vit I have Mexican Petunia and I think the species is brittoniana. It is tall and leggy not compact like yours.
Well steady the only reason that my plant looks compact is because i had recently cut it way back. It grows tall (to about 5 ft before it falls over) and leggy too. I was always having to prune it back not to mention keeping its tubers from eating its neighbors. Finally, i put it in a large tree-sized container with a good solid stake in the center so i can tie it to the support. This has turned out to be a great solution, because i love this plant and would not banish it from my garden. It is growing beautifully and not falling over and requires less attention. Also, i don't like having to prune a host plant over much because i could be destroying little life forms that i am trying to give refuge to. I don't know what the species is because it was growing wild on my neighbors rancho and i pulled up a couple of rooted stalks to plant in the garden. I don't know if the brittoniana is a hybrid. My instincts tell me to stay away from hybrids for butterfly gardens because i think often the results are less nectar rich. Also my thinking is "the closer to nature, the better" but it is possible that i am being unfair to the hybrids. Reminds me of a bumper sticker "Don't believe everything you think"...so i keep that in mind :-)
This thing Im describing is a weed and considered invasive in Texas! I have a patch growing in the space between my neighbor's driveway and my sidewalk. The house is on one end and the street on the other so it is more difficult for it to take over. It has spring loaded seed capsules that shoot the seeds when it rains or I water them. The strength of that is so strong they will sting your bare legs is you are standing near.
Your Ruellia looks great! I am sure there is some butterfly activity going on in there. It looks like your leaves are more spear-shaped than the leaves on my plant. Many of the butterfly plants we use are "weeds"...the Ruellia, Asclepias, Tithonia, Cosmos, Mexican Flame Vine, most of the vines and more all grow wild here but look a lot better when cultivated. I think most of the Ruellias have exploding seeds and i've heard that those seeds can travel 8 feet. I have a Dalechampia dioscoreifolia that has exploding seeds too, and my neighbor has a large tree overhanging with exploding seeds. When the heat and humidity crank up....look out! It is snap, crackle, and pop all over the place. Funny though because i don't have much of a problem with weeds, etc. Things all seem to balance out. It looks like you have a good location for your Ruellia.
Looking good guys
steady, sweet beer is stale beer with sugar and yeast added then sit in the sun for awhile. Some folks add over ripe bananas or fruit.Pour a little on a paper towel in a small pet bowl for the sap sucking variety of butterflies. It has attracted Question Marks, Leafwings, Commas, Hackberry Emperors, and Red Admirals. Just a bunch of guys looking for a free drink.
Busy day getting yard work done and planting. A few butterflies and moths. A nice yellow lady Tiger visited the verbena. All that blue above makes her a pretty lady.
Great pic. of the lady tiger, Ivy.
A couple Red Admiral pix
Yours are all prettier ,,,
Hey, at least you have some!
I'm always happy to see any ,, Besides the Urtica Dioca , I finally have some Boehmeria cylindica seeds I am trying ,, If all goes well ? Pellitory to go in front of those maybe ,,
A Red Admiral corner ^_^
A little edit here While I try to mooch a little ,lol
I am still looking for pellitory
and this senecio , I have tried to move this from a construction zone ,no luck, no seeds , they get knocked down
The last few years I have seen 2 Northern Metalmarks , There feeding on the yarrow with the cement around them (limestone ) substrate , Their at the Fleabane Philadelphicus rarely . I left a birdbath sitting on the patio in disrepair that still filled partly with water and it had attracted them apparently ..
Anyway the story is ,, I am looking to try with another host plant .
This message was edited Apr 20, 2014 2:04 AM
oops http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/63577/ this one ,,
Ju, I may be able to get you some at the spring RU. Will try.
Steadycam3 Than you !!!^_^
I'm having some trouble getting a few of the Butterfly plants going . Buckwheat is up , it is a host plant for a couple ,
Alfalfa , Being difficult , For Sulpher , The one with the Black banded Wing (the Female ,I believe?)
I like the Big Sulphur Not many here though ,
Lots of Swallowtail plants ,Milkweeds do not seem to be increasing with any definite determination ,
A few hollyhocks , Rudbeckia , and Wild Aster , little guys the Hairstreak size like those .
Some time the fall and spring plant thing , gets me confused .
Daffodil ; For Happy Easter ! lol ^_^
Well , that was suppose to be a thank you Steady ..lol?
I found it interesting that a cement patio or table platform with a few backyards of grass with flowers different mulches , match a limestone barren ,, Even more so the Shale type enviroment the Northern Metalmark inhabits here where I am .
I was thinking of a little fountain decoration with running water near the fleabane and yarrow
And the groundseal to the shady side of that (the little shallow fountain .. Then I can say I have something Kind of rare in my garden ,, lol At long last ,,, Sigh ,, Now all I need to do is get them to return again ,,lol
I was happy to see three butterflies zip by yesterday! First of Year! I'm guessing 2 red admirals and one spring azure. Yay.
I am still seeing a few , saw something that looked like skipper today (moth looking ) Red Admiral , A few little tiny ones I could not tell what they were ,
Anyone want to restart this thread , or do we go to 300 ..?
While I have been searching for some of the host plants we have talked about here , I did find a place that lists Croton Capitatis The others ,still browsing searching and so forth ,
This message was edited Apr 24, 2014 12:30 AM
Seeing lots of backyard butterflies visiting the verbena and noted caterpillars chewing on a honey locust which was visited by a ovipositing Duskywing about 12 days ago. First Juniper Hairstreak of the year along with a Silver Spotted skipper and Mournful Thyris moth nectaring dewberry blossoms. Nice weather, host plants, and more blossoms equal more butterflies. Even a small American Lady visited the dewberries for nectaring.
1. Locust cat
2. Juniper Hairstreak
3. Silver Spotted skipper
4. Mournful Thyris
5. American Lady
Oooooh, Juniper hairstreak is really pretty. Ive never seen one. Thanks for posting,