What a fantastic picture! Great job on the whole shebang there -- you must have THE butterfly ranch of all time down there!
Suzy
Edited to say, "you" meaning "you all" from Texas....I didn't mean to to diss any of the other Texans :) it seems like there are more butterflies in the state of Texas than any other state, is that true? So , the state of Texas being "the ranch".
This message was edited May 18, 2007 12:48 AM
Guava Skipper eggs!!!
Very pretty finger bling-bling. hmmm maybe you can start a new fad..
Elaine
LOL Elaine!!
Cat that is one beautiful skipperooo~~ Fine job!!
:-D
Good job, Cat
And that picture is so clear. He/she is beautiful. : )
~Lucy
Cat - Quite a lovely Skipper! I love the dark color and bright markings! It seems a bit bigger than the skippers we get here. (Or maybe you have very small fingers! lol) Great link!!!
Nope....I have long fingers...it is a large skipper. Gets to be about two inches in diameter when it spreads its wings.
The second one that emerged was small though. Even the chrysalis was smaller. Here's a photo of that one. It got a little bigger once it fully pumped up its wings...but in comparison to the first one I released...it was a wee bugger.
~ Cat
Now that's some thumb (balina), bling! lol.
Great story with those.. recap: Saw them frequent the Duranta last year.. Knew they were around, bought a Guava Tree in September 06..... Voila! Er go,.Guava Skipper zone spring 07!
Excellent Cat! I am attempting same pattern with TST. So far only males coming through. Lots of them, chasing each other off my back yard! They might know something worth defending, as in territory.
hmmm, I am just tasting those guavas... love that tart taste... and the jelly too.
Bet those cats and butterflies love them for the same reason..
Elaine
Deb...am sure that soon enough you will have TST females in your yard. Those males can sniff out a female for sure!!! I firmly believe "If you plant it, they will come" so I'll be expecting photos this year!!! :o)
Am also hoping to attract Ruddy Daggerwings to use my larval hosts. Saw one last year in my yard...same for the Polydamas and many others :o)
To tell you the truth Elaine...I've never eaten a guava...just can't get past the smell of the fruit. But will tell you it's quite fun to zero in on travelers coming in from Mexico and being able to smell out the guava and other fruits as soon as they walk into the passenger processing area.
~ Cat
Guava is superb nectar! I buy it in cans in the Mexican section, and the Welch''s Passion Juice is actually Guava juice.. Guess after it firments it is kinda rank though.
Bflies would love that too!
Beautiful! Who'da thunk that odd fellow would turn out so nice!
Saw a Guava Skipper in my yard today...am thinking it was one I'd released earlier in the week. It was roosting in the yellow morning glory vines and flew out when I was watering. Also found a healthy chrysalis in a curled up leaf of my Guava Tree...seems I must have missed an egg or some some stray cat found the tree? I never even noticed chewed up leaves let alone signs of a leaf nest. I've left it on the tree and will check on it daily.
I sometimes buy cans of guava juice and pour it over fruit for the fruit feaster butterflies...haven't been tempted to try it yet either :o)
~ Cat
The ugly duckling becomes a beautiful elegant swan...or Guava Skipper, in this case! Cool!
Extreme coolness!!
Cat-
I finally peeked at this Thread...I just can't stand how cool that guy is! Your "Mummy" picture is the best.
~Adrienne
Thanks ya'll. It's so nice to know the arm and leg I paid for that Guava Tree made it all worthwhile :o) Am quite sure I'll be having Guava Skippers using it throughout the year. Can hardly wait until the fall season...that's when the Guava Skippers really show up.
~ Cat
There was a Guava Skipper flitting around the duranta this morning. Also when I went to check on the chrysalids another had emerged. I set it outside on the guava tree. Sure looks like these buggers frequent or stay in the same general area. :o)
~ Cat
Those are so pretty! What is the genus, species name of the Guava Tree? I want to see if they will grow here.
I will need to read the tag...yes, it's still on the tree after nine months :o) I think it said psidium guava...but will double check tomorrow. I also bought two strawberry guava bushes...the leaves are quite different from the guava tree but the blooms look the same...but they are a nice pink and maroon while the tree has all white blooms. The Guava Skippers haven't used the strawberry guava bushes yet...but it's only been about two months...so I'll still wait and see what happens during the fall season.
~ Cat
As ya'll know I have been releasing Guava Skippers this month. The first few emerged May 17th...and others have followed. I still have one in the chrysalis stage but it should eclose today or tomorrow for sure.
Well, was out checking the guava tree and found four new eggs!!! Woohoo!!!
Am going to leave them on the tree this time around and monitor them. So this means it took about two weeks for one of the butterflies I released to find a mate and come back to lay eggs. Way cool!!!
~ Cat
Here's the last of the chrysalids...you can see it has already formed air pockets so it should emerge soon.
~ Cat
This message was edited May 31, 2007 11:01 AM
Beautiful sight Cat!
Now those are cute little eggs. .. mmm strawberry guavas.. love them too. Going to Florida next week. Have to check my dear Grandma's bushes to see if there are any eggs on them.
Elaine
I'd read that freshly laid Guava Skipper eggs were greenish in color...so when I got home from work tonight I went to check the guava tree. Found three fresh eggs that were still greenish in color :o) Yippee!!!
By tomorrow these should turn to a burgandy color.
~ Cat
This message was edited May 31, 2007 10:06 PM
...and another.
~ Cat
Cat - Your macro lens is amazing! Great photos of a close up of the eggs!
Thanks Becky...I'm pretty much photographing on a wing and prayer now. I can't see up close and have to use reading glasses...even so it's hard to see if I use the LCD screens. I purchased both cameras because before I had lasik I could see up close perfectly but couldn't see anything past a few inches! Had to sacrifice my close up vision to be able to see everything else past my nose without glasses or contacts. Getting old sucks...reading glasses!!! Patooey!!! Now I have to use the viewfinder and having a fantastic LCD screen is lost on me. Good thing the cameras can pretty much focus themselves!!!
By the way, those photos are at night...and I'm holding a flashlight in one hand and the camera in the other :o) If I used a flash at that close range the lens would have cast a shadow.
~ Cat