From the previous topic "less Monarch's in Mexico", I would like to add, they have been very scarce in my yard since the hurricanes. Usually in September through the winter I get them in good numbers, say 5 or 6 a day. I have a milkweed area complete with a puddle for them. I can't recall seeing more than three since September. My last sighting was the weekend of March 19-20. That one was very large. It stayed only one day. I have had only one cat on on the milkweeds and damage was not noticable. Most of the time those bushes are almost bare of leaves.
Not much has changed in the yard. I had a little damage to a few plants from the hurricanes. I have since replaced these and reinforced those that were upset by the wind.
I am being visited daily by sulphurs which have cats in my butterfly cassias. Gulf Fritillaries are visiting and their cats are doing a job on my red passionflower. My oleander has already been destroyed by cats from the polka dot moth. Miami blues are laying eggs on my plumbago. Zebra longwings have never left and so far have devoured two snow on the mountain bushes. Why did I mention all this, activety seems normal, except for the Monarch's. I don't think the problem is in Mexico. The Monarchs, in decent numbers, never seemed to have made it this far south. Has anyone else noticed this?
Art
Less Monarch's in my yard this year
I'm sorry to hear this! I feel even better now about raising my Monarch cats inside and ensuring they make it to the butterfly stage.
Oh no Art! I just posted to you on another thread about this red passionvine. The GF cats will die if they eat this vine because it's tropical. Do you have another vine you can transfer them too?
Tell us more about the problem with the red passion vine!!
That is all I know about it, and that I learned from Tdogmom before I came here. I think she knows it from experience so I will write her and tell her to come give advice! She's an expert on GF's now since they are what she first started raising.
I noticed fewer Monarch's up here last summer and there was even an article in the paper about confirming my own observations. If memory serves me right, they said their appearance can be cyclic but it was also felt the cooler temps of last season reduced their flight north.
I really didn't read the latest story, but I was thinking that the reason their numbers were declining was because of their trees being cut down in Mexico. Something along that line.
Update! I saw three cats on the largest milkweed bush March 26&27. Two were very large one was small. They ate about 3/4 of the leaves on the bush. There are four bushes untouched. All the cats were gone March 28.
Art
Gone, as in they were big enough to pupate? Hopefully not gone, as in...gasp...bird food.
Please do NOT raise Gulf Fritillaries on any Passiflora plants with red blossoms. These are very toxic to the caterpillars! There is way too much of the 'poison' in the plant and it will kill the little cats. :( "Safe" Passifloras include: Caerulea, Incense, Star of Bristol, Clevedon, Blue Bouquet, Incarnata, and Amethyst (and of course, Maypop). Not all of the 'blues' or 'purples' are safe for the caterpillars either (Purple Haze for example is also toxic). The Gulf Frits will lay their eggs on all of them but the caterpillars, when they eat the leaves, will not survive on the red blossomed Passiflora plants. If you plan on raising GFs and you don't want to get rid of your red vine, purchase another vine to feed your caterpillars. :) They will thank you.
On the milkweed cats. Over the weekend I spent considerable time going through the yard looking for "picture" material. This is what I found. On Friday the Christmas Cassia or Butterfly Cassia had two large (over two inch) Orange-barred Sulphur cats. The milkweed had three Monarch cats, two large and one small. I went back on Saturday to take pictures of the cats on the Cassia. They were gone. However on the Cassia was a medium sized (about 8") Cuban Knight Anole lizzard. This area is about 8 feet in front of the Monarch area. It could be the Anole lizzard is eating the cats. The Monarch cats were still there on Saturday and I didn't notice they were gone until Monday.
I still have not seen a Monarch since March 18-19. I still have four milkweed bushes untouched. Only one bush has been used by the cats. This is very unusual.
Art
On raising Gulf Fritillaries on any Passiflora plants with red blossoms. I have always gardened, weather up north or here in Florida. When I first came here 30 years ago I was enchanted by the amazing variety of plants you could grow here. I filled my yard with lots of stuff I thought was nice. When butterfiles appeared I started paying more attention to what I was planting and used the information I found in the local newspapers as a guide. About 5 years ago I took several classes given by Broward County at the Secret Woods conservation area. Representatives of a local butterfly club were present selling butterfly plants. This is where I bought, what turns out to be, my 'Pura Vida' red passionflower (identified at Dave's) It's been here for about four plus years. I also have a Maypop, Purple Passion Flower, Passiflora incarnata which is a native, purchased at a native plant retailer in Naples, FL. I never tried to raise anything but plants. Where the butterflies go is up to them. This fall I moved the red one to an area away from where it was located before (on the same fence section as the purple) but left the purple one where it always has been. Until this past weekend, all the action has been on the red passionflower and not the purple one. This past weekend I found a Gulf Fritillarie cat on the purple passionflower. This is the first time I have seen one on the purple plant, which I have had for about a year and a half.
My yard is loaded with Gulf Fritillaries. If I had any more they would have to be considered pests. I don't think I am killing any, and certainly would not kill any on purpose. They seem to thrive here. Until this past weekend's sighting of a Gulf Fritillary cat on the purple passionflower, they have thrived on the red Pura Vida passionflower.
Art
Hmm, Art, that is quite interesting. Perhaps the one you have is okay for the GFs in your area, then. :) It is just like the purples and blues—there are some Passiflora that you'd think would be just fine and yet when you feed the cats the leaves, they die. I had an Alato-caerulea that was deemed acceptable but every caterpillar died from it—a nasty death, no less (watery frass and all). Funny thing was that I gave it to my daughter who lives closer to the beach and guess what? The GFs found it, laid eggs, and cats ate it without any problem! We couldn't figure out what the heck was happening. Go figure…Others tried the same plant and had the same exact response as I did so we figured some cats can handle it because they have a stronger digestive system or something…(just like people). :)
There must be something out there written about this phenomonon.
Over the last four years, since I became more aware of the value in using native plants, I go out of my way to get them. The red passionflower was not sold as a native, but the butterfly club I bought them from said they used them. The blue/purple one is a native.
Another thought on this might be our growing conditions here. The whole area is sand based for excellent drainage and unless you initate dirt into your garden, it's not there. This means there is plenty of leeching going on. I don't have much dirt. I do mix in 1/4 potting soil and 1/4 bought dirt with 1/2 sand from the hole I make. I save the rest of the sand in a sand pit for future use. Plenty of fresh air and sunshine with six months of good rain. Off rainy season I use an in ground sprinkler system loaded with minerals only when I have to. I don't fertilize much, I do use a little palm fertilizer on larger bushes. I do not pick up dead leaves and everything is mulched with eucalyptus chips. My area is mostly natural and slightly overgrown looking (when I keep up with my trimming.) It doesn't have a "neat and trimmed" look. The East border of my yard is 260' long and backs up to a concrete block/stucco wall 5' 6" tall. This helps with the wind. I have so much stuff there, you can barely see the wall.
A little side note on the sand dirt thingie...HD sells a bag of "dirt" or soil for $.99 They sell the same sized bag of sand for $3.99 (last time I looked)...can you believe that...dirt cheaper than sand.
Any thoughts on the Cuban Knight Anole lizzard? I did several look up's and they only mention them eating insects. I didn't find a mention of them eating caterpillars. I know they eat other lizzards.
Art
Art, the cats are an early morph of an insect (butterfly). :-)
Ummm, yeah, the lizards will gobble those cats right up. I said I wasn't going to, but I'm going to ask again because I've not got an answer. Art, have you seen cats make it all the way to the chrysalis stage? Do you see chrysalis around your yard? Your vines? I certainly believe that those vines attract a lot of butterflies, but that doesn't mean they are eclosing from your yard. I'm not even caring about the red vine anymore, I'm just curious since you've never answered my question.
On the chrysalis. Yes I have seen them when I look for them. I usually see them when I am trimming the bushes and trees. Often I see them on either of the privacy fences on the north & south sides of the pool area. The fences are shadow box construction. They have plenty of nooks and crannies that give lots of things shelter. The south fence is put up in four foot sections with a five foot space between sections. In these open sections between fence sections I have large bushes. There are lots of branches and shelter at the bases of these bushes. I have red/maroon copperleaf, green copperleaf, red chinese hibiscus, and yellow chinese hibiscus in these spaces. My main growing areas are on the perimeter of the yard from where the back of the house ends going out to the east. The yard extends out over a hundred feet east. From the NE end to the SE border there is a five and a half foot concrete wall 260' long. In this area growth is dense and often un-kept and very natural looking. I only get in there when pruning. I don't like to go in there because of the spiders, which I hate and don't go near. Up until last year, when I moved the red passionflower to a location on the wall, there were lots of 'em In the north side of the pool area fence. The blue/purple passionflower is still there, but is just growing back from being severly cut back last fall. Perhaps when it is bigger there will be more action. Also on the north side fence on the end nearest the house is a shade fabric gazebo. That section of fence is wall to wall with bromeliads, spider plants & orchids growing on the fence in the shade of the gazebo. I often see them there too. As I get through my spring cleanup/pruning I will keep you posted where and when I see them.
Art
On "the cats are an early morph of an insect". Before I knew better I would kill the "horn worms" on my grape tomato plants (which I grow from September through May) When I would squash one of these things they would be full of ugly looking green (for lack of the correct word) stuff. I can't imagine anything eating one of these things. I just assumed all cats had this green "stuff" inside them too and I just couldn't believe anything would eat them. As you can see, I am just in the "learning about all this stuff" stage.
Art
Learning never ends! Its brain exercise.
Early this afternoon I saw a Monarch cat slowly moving along toward the back end of the Monarch area. It was moving too slow for me to say and watch. It was about an inch and a quarter long. Tomorrow I will check to see if there is chrysalis. BTW, it was on one of the smaller milkweed bushes it was on. First time one of these has been hit this year. The biggest one is still better than half full of leaves and blossoms.
Art
Thursday late afternoon I spotted three GF cats on the blue/puple passionflower. Also noticed a Giant Leopard Moth cat on this plant too. This is my second sighting of one of these cats.
Strange the GF cats were all the same size, about 3/4 - 7/8 inches long. It seems they got that big overnight (or perhaps two days at the most.) Is that possible?
Art
Thanks for answering my question Art. I'm glad to hear that you have pupating cats in your yard. When the eggs are layed at the same time the cats will be about the same size. And yes, they can seem to double in size overnight. You should raise a few Monarch cats inside and watch them. The ones that I see the most dramatic difference in tho is my Black Swallowtails. Suddenly one day a huge fat cat appears.
Update. Three weeks since my last post here. Monarch cats are still eating the milkweeds but there are not many Monarch's visible in the yard. The purple passion is being devoured and is currently leafless. The red passionflower is being eaten too, but there is more of it so it doesn't look very damaged. Butterfly activety seems normal except for the Monarchs. There are plenty of butterfiles of the general variety I usually get here. I have a good sized colony of Cassius Blue's, which I previously thought were Miami Blue's. I think this is because I didn't mow my grass for two months this past winter and let the Spanish Needles grow wild in the lawn. I did transplant several to the Monarch area to assure the small butterflies that feed on them would have food through the winter. I will be working to identify the other two very small butterflies that are frequenting the yard. I have one more thought on the Monarchs. This spring has been unusually cool and windy. We have had only one four day span of really warm weather so far this spring. Night time temps have been in the high 50's which is cool for this time of year. As early as the 1st of April we were having temps at night drop to the high 40's, which is very cool for this area. Ususally I am in the pool by this time of year, but the pool temprature is just beginning to hit the mid 70's. In the last few days the night time temps are beginning to creep up to the mid 60's, so it's beginning to warm up. Our day time temps are in the high 70's. We are supposed to get a break in the wind beginning this afternoon. The cool weather could be part of the problem, but I am not sure. A week or so should tell the story.
I made a post in a different area that I should include here. It's kina late but here it is anyway.
Get up early Friday April 22nd and check out the shooting stars and possibly some moths too. A great excuse to possibly see some of those elusive moths we know are there. Place a not too bright light that won't affect your vision of the Eastern sky (or whatever light you use for this purpose) and perhaps you will see moths along with a few shooting stars. Look east from mid northern latitudes.
LYRID METEORS: The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks this Friday morning, April 22nd, when Earth glides through a stream of debris trailing Comet Thatcher. Go outside two hours before dawn and watch the sky near the bright star Vega. You might see a dozen or more shooting stars before sunrise.
Art