milkweed bugs?

Oh my goodness! We've gone from delusional to anal over green doo on a sleeve. Poor poor Mrs E ♥ Unless of course you say it was your favorite gold sweatshirt? Surely not. The cute fuzzy would be flat if he did that all over your favorite gold sweatshirt ♥

Rats, diversionary tactics didn't work.

Nope, not my favorite golden sweatshirt but it was a shirt I like to wear outside a lot because it is light weight and long sleeved so I don't get all scratched up. And I would not splat anything for making do do on me! For shame for even suggesting that... hang your head low!

Slight change of subject but I went out to check on the little guy (Isia isabella) and noticed that he was crawling in under bark. I did a quick online check of this little guy and found a source that stated he could withstand temps down to like -50 or maybe it was even as low as -70 while overwintering under bark. Gosh I love my Oaks and Shagbark Hickory trees.

it was the green poo, defintiely the green poo. So all hair does him good then yes?

See terryr, and you thought I was the only one who was anal about green cat do do!

Let me see if I can find the link to the wooly cat. I might not be successful because this computer clears the history when I exit from IE7 which is pretty much what I use the most for DG.

I suspect, there are other factors at play here other than his "wooly" coat that are allowing him to withstand those types of temps. Gut feeling is that this critter has some sort of a physiological change that occurs to protect him.

OK, quickie on the wooly cat coat from here-
http://www.enaturalist.org/unit/42/qr

Careful when fighting the aphids and Milkweed bugs that you don't kill the Ladybug Beetle larvae stage. They are kind of creepy looking and blend right in with some of the others.....but they are the good guys! They eat the aphids!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showimage/3550/

If only, but I would never find one of those here :( They don't breed in this climate.

That's a great photo of the Lady Beetle larvae. What you mentioned is one of the reasons why I leave Milkweed bugs alone and will only go after aphids if I have to. The ant baits really do help control aphids when combined with mechanical or chemical controls.

Are you using the ant baits on the ground around the Milkweed?

Not necessarily just around Milkweed because I haven't had the issues others have had but more so around other plants that aphids seem to love. I sit for a while and watch for patterns to emerge. Ants seem to take the same path to and from the aphids. Once I figure out the general course they are taking, I place the ant baits in their path and it generally is on the ground. I've used ant baits in my home too because ants will also farm mealies and I was hit with those once and had to get rid of all wooden vanda baskets and wooden stakes that the ickies could weather out the storm in. Those ant baits I did place on shelving and decking to where the infected plants had been. Last thing in the world I need after cleaning up a bunch of ickies is for ants to bring the ickies back to my plants in an attempt to re-establish their honeydew supply from numerous off-site stashes. In other words, ants literally move a percentage of their "livestock" away from the main "grazing" area to protect their ickies from some big bad human like me coming in and dipping a bunch of pots in wettable Orthene. The ants spread out their livestock so that they can move it back when the coast is clear, seriously. This is one of the reasons why so many people get reinfected and never quite seem to get a grip on eradicating their ickies. Ants, lousy ants.

Page 2 is, i believe, what you're looking for?
http://www.insectslimited.com/Issue%2077.pdf

And here
http://library.thinkquest.org/3500/snowy_owl.html

The fun fact states this

Bravo! I caught at one of your links that their "anti-freeze" can help them withstand temps down to -90°F and that they've even survived being frozen in an ice cube. I haven't found where they mention the actual chemical but I'm sure it's there somewhere. Way to go terryr! One of these days I'm going to learn how you pull this stuff off the Internet in like all of ten minutes.

Wow, that's amazing!

Is my tiara done? I think I need a pink rhinestone studded wand to match.

You're welcome!!

Ha ha ha ha ha! I'm keeping the wand, I may need it to seal your lips one day. Ya know, make a wish and all ;)

Wish away dahling, wish away..............

Pretty funny, I'm at a loss for a smart remark for that one. You win.

♥♥♥♥♥♥ Of course I win! What would you think?
You would?? teeheeteehee ♥♥♥♥♥♥

Well, I was sorta hoping I could out type you one of these days. I know I can't out talk you but it sure is fun trying.

ROFLMBO!!!! Y'all are cracking me up with this conversation ..... funny AND educational! LOL!

I read a considerable amount and work/volunteer a lot in natural areas but totally suck with a search engine. I can remember things I've read or worked with but not necessarily the details. Most people want details so they can better understand a concept. (door opens and swings open to hit the wall with a bam) enter terryr... how she does it is beyond me but she can find just about anything online if I even give her the littlest of detail to go on. And as you all have noticed, she is oh so modest about this gift of pulling info out of thin air from the computer. Saves me time plowing through publications to get info and keeps her busy so she doesn't cyber whoop me too badly in a thread trying to suck info out of my brain. Off to go get that tiara I owe her. I am keeping the wand though.

Cyber whoop? Ha! I just find the info, you decipher it. Too many big words for my poor brain....lol.

Just make sure the tiara and the wand both have pink rhinestones, please. Let me keep the wand and I might show you how I do a search. ☺

Can't find pink rhinestones my friend. Still looking.

You may not have the wand. I need it to keep you in line. If I can't make a wish with it I can still bean you over the head with it. If you're lucky, some of the rhinestones might fall out and you could pick them up to hotglue to that picture frame.

Back to butterflies and such, has anyone used one of those collapsible laundry baskets I found online to raise cats? I'm really curious about that because those are very affordable and practical in that they could be flattened and stored for the next season after use. And where are people getting their cats from? Is there some sort of an online source? The last ones I got came from some sort of a kiddie kit. I'd like to try my hand at this. If but for nothing else than to have some fun. I have milkweed plants for a monarch cat and I've got many other native host plants for other cats.

Don't you look at plants for the eggs and or cats and bring them in? That's what I always understood. I don't know how good this link is, since I don't raise them indoors
http://home.wi.rr.com/monarchraising/page8.htm

You honestly think you could take me on? Seriously?

No, I leave them be when I find them. I'll read your link a little bit later.

Eq, if I answer the questions, I want the tiara AND the wand heehee

The drawback about those hampers is the zipper is on the top (I think) and the cats will, inevitably, crawl up there and pupate on the zipper. That creates quite a bad situation. If the zipper were on the side, that would work. I have one that I bought from the monarch site and the zipper is on the top. So, I put the little cats in there and then when they get ready to pupate I move them to the reptarium, which has the door on the side.

I get the cats off of the host plants. Since you have many hosts you should be seeing cats. Some others have bought the eggs. DonnaB bought some Lunas and raised them then gave me some eggs. Only 1 Luna survived but he is in his cocoon now and hopefully still alive.

Well, the tiara goes to "you know who" but I'd let you have the wand if you promised to use it against her ;)

OK, so the zipper is a raw deal. We can just toss that idea out the door. I guess maybe I better sign up for that FreeServe.

Luna Moth I know some of the hosts to. That would be Ash, Birch, Hickory, and a several other native woodies. I've got those present on this property and then some. I'll go for the Luna moths. Moths are right up my alley anyway. And, I'd even break down and buy which ever reptarium you tell me to buy. I am cheap but I will part with money when I need to and I'd rather have the right set up to avoid the risk of accidentally killing a cat in a zipper. I have to admit that if I even one cat accidentally, I'd be very upset. Can you get me the source that DonnaB used to purchase her Lunas? Then from there, you need to walk me through the process. Maybe I should just start a whole new thread for this because this is something I've wanted to do for a while and I am really into moths more so than butterflies.

The Lunas were such fatties, they were so adorable, here's a pic of one and his crochets. It was impossible to pull him off a branch, he had quite the grip.

Donna is very knowledgeable, she's raised a lot of different bfs and moths. She also sent me some Antheraea pernyi but none of them hatched.
I fed the Luna Sweet Gum leaves.

I would start a new thread on it. Cat(TexasPuddyPrint) as a thread on some silkmoths she is raising, don't know if they are in your area.

I can't use the wand on Terry, she's too Google-Gifted!

This is like the cage I bought except mine was a medium for about $60. Shop around, you may find one cheaper. I like this one because it has a door and no zipper..and it's on the side.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6016+6018+11749&pcatid=11749

Oh E, if you're just doing moths then you could get the hamper or something smaller. Most moths pupate in or on the ground in leaf litter and don't crawl up to make a chrysalis. So, you could get by with a zipper on the top.

Oh goodie! I'll start a new thread.

HEY!! I can read what you write Equil! Trying to get somebody to turn on me, well I never. Just you wait missy, just you wait! ☺

Wow, you can read in addition to being Google-Gifted? You're just jealous because I offered her the wand you want!

New thread on Luna Moth cat here-
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/780879/

Equil, can you hear me? Shhhh...listen. I'm sure I'm coming thru rather loudly. ♥

(hands clasped over ears tightly) nanner nanner nanner, I can't hear you.

You can too! I'm IN your head! You can't help but hear me, so nanner nanner back at ya!!