I have so many gulf frit cats that they have almost devoured my pv. By tomorrow or the next day there won't be anything left. Is there anyone in the Granbury, TX area who has some pv's who would like to rescue some. I don't know what to do. Will they find something else to eat if they run out of pv or will they die?
Too many GF cats in Granbury
If your cats run out of food the larger cats will pupate early, and be possibly be smaller butterflies. I've never personally witnessed if early instars will also pupate early too tho. You'd think they require being fed until a certain stage of life or they don't survive. Don't worry, there's only so much a gardener can do. (unless you want to be like most of us and frantically search far and wide for more food...lol)
When that happens to me I try to find a Butterfly Garden at a nearby Park. Then I can leave them there!
Adrienne
That's a great idea...but I'm willing to bet that in her town there aren't any. I know there must be wild maypops growing out there tho. I personally couldn't ID one tho.
Sugarfoot, thinking about Granbury has given me a great desire to go out to Big Rock Park or Dinosaur Valley in Glen Rose! :) I love going out there!! I don't get out in the river (saw Jaws too early...don't like brown water..lol) but the river itself is so relaxing to me!! I've got to make plans before it gets 200 degrees. (may be too late)
I just checked and there's nothing left of the pv's except the larger stems. Fat cats are everywhere. I don't know of a butterfly garden nearby Adrienne. Would take them to Fort Worth if I knew of one there.
KB, I love both of those places in Glen Rose. You are wise to stay out of the rivers when we've had this much rain. A family in our neighborhood went canoeing on the Brazos recently without life jackets and lost a 19 year old nephew when one of the boats overturned. It was so sad listening to the boats going up and down the river behind our house searching for him.
Here's a pic of the pv back in April when it was lush.
sugarfoot - If they are pretty big, then they will probably just go into their chrysalises since their food is gone. If you lose some, that's unfortunately, how life is for them even in the wild. YOU did good to raise the ones that make it! Remember the odds are very small that even one will make it out of 50-100 eggs laid. :-)
Sugarfoot - just saw this thread.. Dmail me if you haven't found a solution yet.
Sheila
Those are beautiful blooms! If most of yours were large then they should be ok and just pupate early. It's hard to just let it "happen" when you are aware of it but sometimes that's all you can do.
That's so sad about that boy! :( I only go out to the river to listen to it and enjoy the peace.
I think my GF need birth control or something. There's so many of them that many seem to consider my yard as their own exclusive territory and they try to chase other species of butterflies away. I want those other butterflies!
Linda - Butterfly condoms???? LOL!
I have noticed when I get a lot of butterflies that the more aggressive ones try to chase away others, too. I had to laugh, because there were 2 female Monarchs in my yard at the same time. One would chase the other out and she would pop back over the fence in another area to sneak back into the yard. This would go on ALL day long. They were so busy chasing each other that they never had time to eat or lay eggs! LOL! A day or two later ...... I saw a third one in the yard and it was a major fiasco of them chasing each other around and around my backyard. Made me dizzy watching them! Must be why I didn't get that many baby cats that time. I should have had a bunch with 3 female Monarchs in the yard ..... but no! They were too busy trying to lay claim to my backyard! (rolling my eyes ....)
Well Sugarfoot took me up on an offer to harbor her starving GFs. I had already fed Debnes' crew and they were gone. She brought about 18 to me. It was rainy the day she came so I waited until later to release some of them.
Here are your babies the first day when you brought them. It hadn't taken them long to start munching on the fresh PV.
Others after eating for a day decided to pupate. I have about four that are already in chrystallis and about three that are forming the "j". They weren't particular where they attached either. One was on a rubberband holding sticks up, one at the bottom of a stick just off the cage floor, but the two others were at normal height at the top of stick, and at the top of a cage. Others I have released to find their own way.
What kind of pv should I buy to attract GF's?
Here's some kinds:
Passiflora incarnata: Maypop
Passiflora suberosa - corky stemmed passionvine
Passiflora lutea: Yellow Passionflower
Passiflora alto: 'Amethyst'/'Lavender Lady'/'Star of Mikan'
Passiflora caerulea: Blue Passionflower
Passiflora foetida: Corona de Cristo...various varieties of this
Thanks, Linda. I'll be able to find some of those at a nursery.
The Passiflora incarnata 'Maypop" is a native for us in TX. It is the one that Sugarfoot and I have. Good Luck!
Do you know a nursery that sells Antennaria parlinii, Pussytoes ?
Way to go Sheila!!! on adopting some hungry GF cats! I have noticed when mine starve for a day, it speeds up their desire to pupate. That happens with most of the cats that I have raised. Natural instinct I suppose! Looks like your yard will be all aflutter with pretty orange wings soon! Send them my way, would ya? I've got plenty of PV to feed several generations. And no cats or butterflies. I am really beginning to think it is the drought conditions we are experiencing here in most of Florida that is stalling the butterfly population this past Spring and now summer.
Becky,
I'm just up the road from you and I've had a ton of GFs. I have released 18 so far this week. It's funny, I have other friends in the Palm Bay area who aren't seeing butterflies, either. I'm beachside, and my butterfly garden is always busy. I still have 7 GF pupas, 12 GF cats, and 19 BST cats in my cages. I just had to start my 4th cage of them this week. I've had a problem with mites on my PV this year so have been cutting some back. And I still get butterflies laying eggs.
terrie
Hi Terrie! How terrific about your butterfly population near the beach. I grew up in Melbourne. Years ago .... and I do mean YEARS ..... I used to frequent the beach there in Indialantic to hang out, sunbathe, and surf. That was before all the condos went up and they put in parking meters at the beach and boardwalk, etc. I used to work at a little shop called Faye Frances Bikinis right near the boardwalk. The owner used to make custom bathing suits and I was one of the seamstresses as well as a sales clerk. I would open and close the shop on the days I worked. Faye had a genuine pet Tiger. A beautiful exotic cat. Ahh .... that was the good old days! The place was torn down years later. Things have sure changed since then! Glad to hear you have a garden going on there with many winged visitors. You'll have to show us some photos of your garden! :-)
I am without butterflies also, Becky. One or two,here and there, but nothing like last fall.
I wish they would hurry up... I miss them.
~Lucy
The reason my PV didn't have any is that it is under a shady area with neighbor's trees draping over the fence. But Deb said that the scent of the eclosing bfs this year they should find me. I plan too to get a few rooted and move to a sunny area, which should help.
Becky,
That is so cool that you grew up here. It's a nice town. We've been here since 91 when we got assigned to PAFB. My son and his new wife live in Sebastian. I go down there often to see them. They actually live in the Sebastian River Buffer Preserve on 512. He's with the DEP and they are letting him live in one of the park's houses.
Anytime you want some GF cats just holler. I have a ton. I also found that I had a Queen cat on one of my milkweeds this morning.
Here's a recent picture I took of some of the babies. I love it -- looks like they are waiting on a bus or something.
Terrie
LOL!! They are a close knit group!!
Terrie,
How cool that you have a Queen! I can never tell them apart!
Adrienne
Asafla,
It took me a while, too. I didn't notice the extra set of "horns" they have around the middle until I did some research on them.
8*)
Ooh...this reminds me I need to keep an eye out for the arrival of the Queen butterflies this summer. Come on, my pretties! I'm waiting!
Terrie - Thanks for the GF offer. I raised a bunch (about 30) that I got from my school because we ran out of Passion vine there. They chowed down happily on my PV. I released them in my yard, but none stayed around. Not sure why. I will take GF cats only if you run out of PV. There must be another yard near me that has something better they want to lay eggs on and eat. LOL! :-)
How cool that your son and dil live here in Sebastian! Sounds like he has a very interesting job. Does he happen to work with a fella named Ron B.? Have you ever been over to the Maple Street Native nursery in Melbourne?
http://www.maplestreetnatives.com/bgardens.htm
Cute photo of your GF lined up! lol
Becky,
I have bought most of my native plants from Maple Street. They have such great plants.
I'll have to ask my son if he knows Ron B. Does he work at the park? My son lives in the buffer preserve, but is a Law Enforcement Officer at Sebastian Inlet.
What kind of PV do you have in your yard? I have the native Maypop. For some reason, this year I'm having the problem with mites. Is anyone else?
Terrie
Terrie - Oh never mind about your son knowing Ron. He works for a different state agency, not Law Enforcement. He tags ducks, counts, and tracks them. :-)
Oh good! I am glad you have been over to the Maple Street Native nursery. They really do have a great selection. I only get up there occasionally. But I love to look at everything and ask a dozen questions or so! I have gotten a number of plants from them and have had great success with them. (None have died, which is a record for me!)
I have Maypop. Or at least I think so. I was given a piece of fruit that had 11 seeds (Spring 2006). I potted them up, they all germinated, and then when they were big enough ..... I planted them in different locations around my backyard fence. I have a lot of vines growing on my fence and the GF do eat them. I just don't have any GF around right now and my vines look really nice. LOL! I really don't know what cultivar these vines are. It has yet to produce flowers. Hopefully this year I'll see what the blooms look like and then I can narrow down the ID for them. :-) But the person who gave the fruit to me called it Maypop. So ....
No mites on mine. Wasps and ants yes! Mites no. Take a photo of the mites .... I wanna see what they look like. Please. :-) Or perhaps they are too teeny to see with a camera?
The GF and the VF are keeping my Maypops in a state where they're doing good to produce new foliage. To bloom...well, that would be asking too much, wouldn't it? I've never seen this many GFs in June. This morning while walking through the house I glanced out between the curtains on the small window over the sink....and in just a very small part of the garden bed that I could see that way I saw FOUR GF mamas checking those vines, obviously trying to find a piece of vine that didn't already have cats all over it so they could lay more eggs. I wasn't sure I wanted to see the whole yard after that. As far as I know there's no mites on any of them. If there was, they would probably get eaten up by the cats pretty soon.
Yes, please Terrie! Mite pictures! Hee, hee! I've got little tiny yellow things on mine...I just assumed they were aphids!
Adrienne
This message was edited Jun 24, 2007 8:43 PM
I am sure the tiny yellow ones are aphids, but be careful not to kill the ladybug larvae in the process. They are pretty weird looking when they are in that stage.
http://davesgarden.com/bf/showimage/3550/
asfla and Becky,
I agree with Sheila. The yellow ones are probably aphids. I don't know if I can take a picture of them. They are so very tiny. Little red spots. Looks like someone sprinkled cayenne pepper on the underside of the leaves. They suck the juice out of the leaves and leave them looking pale. I have them on my PV and my Angel Trumpet. Can't seem to get rid of them. I take my camera out tomorrow and see if I can get some kind of pictures.
Terrie
I have something similar on some Black-eyed Susan stalks. It IS brownish-orange aphids. I just spray them off with the hose. It works, but sometimes they do come back. I have heard soapy water works on them too. I am sure there are others here that can give you some suggestions. :-)
Sheila,
I was off to California a couple of days after I dropped off the gf cats. Thank you so much for taking them. Your backyard was lovely and I really enjoyed seeing it. I hope the rain hasn't caused flooding problems for you. I came home to find my lower backyard completely flooded. The pond area is under about 4 feet of water. Have no idea if the water lilies will survive. I don't know how long it will take the waters to recede. At this point they are still rising and it all depends on what happens upriver.
Hope you see some gfs flying around your garden soon.
Linda
Oh, so sorry to hear about your flooding! Glad to know that Sheila was able to adopt your cats tho!
Oh how sad Linda! That is a heartbreaker to see hardwork floating away and feeling so helpless to do anything. Glad it was only the yard though.
It was great meeting you that day! I had put most of the GFs on the pv outside, but a lot had already decided to stay put in the cage. I still have 5 that haven't eclosed yet. But my DH got home early this afternoon and one had, so he released it for me.
I have three GSTs and one BST that have pupated too. Those will be my first of many, I have brought in a bunch of Swallowtails off of my one fennel plant and bought fennel at the store, then found out they will switch to Rue. I have enjoyed taking care of them each morning and evening, makes these rainy days a little brighter.
Hope you dry out soon. I saw where PK lake is opened another gate today, hope those of you below watch it and aren't in harm's way.
Linda-
I'm sending dry thoughts your way!
Adrienne
We would love to send some wet ones your way Adrienne. GA and FL are really in a drought and we can't get a break. Hey everyone face East and blow!! LOL!! )< ~~~