Turns out, 1 on the 2 TST eggs is viable!! The other one was syringed by a small bug I saw near the eggs.. I would show a pic of it, but I squished first, to ask questions later in this case. Too many times any hesitation resulted in fatality.
So here we have one lonely cat..Oviposited May 23rd, and hatched today May 30th...
Congrats on the new addition. Keep it safe and share the photos as the little darlin' grows!
~ Cat
Here is the whole week.. It was green at first..and when it began to change I took more pics to show those changes...
Thanks Cat! Doing my best to keep it safe.. ;-D! In a screen cage with a cover I can put over it. So far so good!
Deb
Boy oh boy! At that early instar stage they look just like the BST and the GST cats. Glad you were able to save one of them! My GST is in it's chrysalis and I am really excited to get the opportunity to hand-raise one! Good luck on your new little fella! :-) How exciting for you, Deb! Yes .... do share photos of his growth and development! :-)
Yea, how exciting for you Debnes!!! Thanks for the pictures, you definately need to add those to bug files too.
Yes very exciting,, I am happy with the one! It will be an only child, unless I can find another on the tree I may have missed.
My theory is if there's one, there's two. If there's two, there's three. If there's three...you're on a roll!!! :o)
I'd say keep looking. Seems once your eye and brain click with the image of the egg or caterpillar...you will be able to scan the leaves and find more. Do hope you'll find more!!!
I know I have looked plants over and over and never find a thing then once my eye finds an egg or caterpillar that image shape seems to imprint itself in my brain and I'm able to scan the plant again and pick out the eggs and cats with ease.
~ Cat
Yay!!
Success! Keep posting so I can see the baby's growth!
Adrienne
Oh well folks, It looks like a wash for the little fella... The baby moved about a little and now is not moving.. looks a bit smaller too. Will just have to keep plugging away. I am dead-set and determined to have the full cycle of TST this year!
Waaa!
Deb
Give it time Deb...perhaps it's going through the first instar stage.
~ Cat
Well Cat! THANK YOU!! I sure like the way you think! You were 100% right on! I took the plant out of the cage and nudged him just a tad bit...and he began crawling again. The egg is so jamb packed with nutrient that if they are ON their host plant, they can take a little nap before beginning to eat instead of spending all the energy to find food. Whew~ What a relief!
S/he is alive..
Day 2>
Yay! Hang in there, Deb!
Thanks Becky!
I needed that.:-)
Woohoo!! Glad to hear it!!!
~ Cat
That is really good news Deb!! Glad you didn't give up.
Thanks Cat and Sheila!
Silly me, I knew about the egg being enough for their first day... The other thing was when it was resting the white band appeared as though the little thing was shriveling up. I just checked, and at the end of day 2 it has eaten 2 places equivelent to it's own size. I will sleep much better tonight!
Also thanks for taking in the Gulf Fritillary babies.. They are going to love growing up in your garden! Once the scent of them (pheremones) is there, they will not have trouble finding you for the rest of the season, even though it is so hidden away. Your place is just marvleous... the pond, the stretch of walk through all the flower beds. Ben and I really enjoyed coming!
:-Deb
Sorry for the roller coaster friends.. I am pretty bummed out Day 3.. Learned something very critical here about a very tiny predator of swallowtail eggs and larvae. Still don't know exactly what it was yet...
This thread will explain more, and if anyone can help ID I would really appreciate it!
:-
Upside... GST oviposited eggs across 3 different host plants this afternoon. There's always an upside in our breed of garden people!! Having good folks like y'all that understands helps a whole, whole lot!!
Thanks for coming e're-body!
:-Deb
Did you intend to add a link Deb?
Thanks Sheila, Yes I did...still working on it, to learn whatever possible about this cat predator..
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/729823/
