Sheila, is that coffee jar a feeder? How does it feed them? Or is it a jar to store the brew? Just curious as to what a bf feeder looks like.
Deborah
DAILY BUTTERFLIES PAGE 6
That is just the jar I had my brew in. You can use almost anything. I can't put anything on the ground because my dogs and the ants would be hogging it. I suspended a peice of bark for one and a rough limb for another. You just paint on the brew and the bushfoot bfs love it. They are the only ones that feed on it though.
That's amazing I don't know if I have any of those species of BF's or not. I did copy Debnes' receipe though just incase they are around. I just didn't know what to do with it once I made it. Thank you for posting a picture. That is cute! Ever have birds check it out?
I'm still reading and learning about butterflies. This thread is a great learning tool. I read something today I didn't know. Butterflies have taste sensories on their feet. I didn't know that! 'Course, there's a lot I don't know. LOL.
Oh yeah and it does lure some beautiful butterflies they might not show up otherwise. They are fruit & dung feasters. Some of those will also nectar flowers, but many of them only go for rotting fruit. The Mourning Cloak, for instance... I have never seen one light on a flower, only the brew. On the other hand Red Admirals love the brew, but will nectar all kinds of flowers as well. Question Marks will come from miles around to feast on the brew, but they settle for the White Buddleia when the brew has been washed off the log by the rain. There are a considerable amount of brushfoots which you might not ever see on the brew. Monarchs and Fritillaries are 2 brushfoots I have never seen on the brew. It is interesting to which butterflies like what food, and even more to know you've covered all the bases.
Great shots Sheila. I love the Buckeye!! Careful with the glass jar.. You might want to switch to plastic so it can expand some without exploding.
:-Deb
Adrienne and Sheila - Love all your photos! You girls are finding some beautiful butterflies in your yard! :-)
Oh my .... good point Deb about the glass jar!
Nothing much going on in my yard. I see butterflies flitting around, but none stopping long enough for photos. :-/
Adrienne, Nice pics! I can't believe you go out one time with your camera and get one oviposting! The Swallowtail is awfully pretty.
Shiela, Doesn't the bait dry out? Do the butterflies need it wet?
Suzy
The jar is PLASTIC so not to worry. Foldgers hasn't used glass for sometime. I have been opening it so much lately it hasn't had a chance to expand either.
Deborah... No the birds can care less about it.
Suzy..the bait mix I have is very liquid, and sticky. It will dry up after a few days, but lately the rain has kept it washed off my feeders.
I didn't see any action for the first week or two, after I mixed it up. But when it starting smelling rotted, then they are there in a flash. My DH says it smells like stale beer and rotten bananas (he is right on)! But he loves taking pictures of the them!
I suppose it draws flies? I put sand in my birdfeeder and pour out old hummer food into it along with a few bananas and other rotting fruit from time to time. Sure does smell sour, which in turn draws flies. I just think of them as another food source for the hummers since they like small soft bodied insects. Gotta try making a hanging brew basket like that one in the picture before the summer's out .
Hello everyone! I said it waas too hot to do anything, but with all this rain and sunshine, the garden was getting a little out of control. So I trimmed the bougainvillea and pulled up my jasmine (so I could plant passion flower vine). I repotted some houseplants, and then decided to stroll around the yard and check on everybody.
I've mentioned before that I take care of the both sides of the entrance to our cul-de-sac. One is under the shade of a tree (my side), and the other is completely open to the hot FL sun (neighbor's side). On the hot side I have lots of natives: blanket flowers, rudbeckia, echinacea, Tampa verbena. So on my side I've nicknamed it my "caterpillar corner" because I have Stoke's asters, passion flower vine, sparkleberry, buttonbush, fringe tree, and some other plants.
I literally planted the passion vine today, and wouldn't you know who came flying around me? The thing would hardly land so that's why the picture is a little blurry.
Of course, I was standing there watching it fly around me, around the oak tree, around some other plants, all the while yelling, "That's your host plant! No, not that one - the other one!" It didn't seem to help. As much I was enjoying my Gulf Fritillary visitor, I was soon distracted by a giant yellow thing flying past me...
A Tiger Swallowtail! I'm pretty sure I've seen it flying around my neighbor's yards, but it never did fly near enough for me to tell. Today I must have taken twenty pictures as it chowed down on the plumbagoes. I had so much fun watching it fly, too. It was flying kind of slow and just catching the wind and floating. So cool!
Here's a good view of the underside.
And topside...
Also hanging out on the plumbagos today: this little skipper
Top view
And one of my little hairstreak friends. Can't recall seeing them in the yard before, but I've only been paying attention recently.
I managed to get one shot of this guy before my neighbor turned his sprinklers on (he's been fixing them today). This one looked a lot like my other skipper friend.
great shot's Melanie! Boy you sure get alot of action!! Hee,hee
Adrienne
Very active and productive day for you Melanie!
Build it and they will come!
Those are great pictures, like I said they are all hungry after the rain. Nice butterfly afternoon for you!
Today was the first time I have been able to photograph a Julia in my yard.
Here's one more shot of it.
This is the first one I've seen. Fla has many butterflies I've never seen. Nice shot!
Wow! I have never seen anything like that before....and I've never heard of a butterfly called Julia, either. Are they common in Florida? They look and sound rare.
Suzy
Wow! That Julia is really beautiful, I had never seen one, aren't butterflies amazing?
It's really fun when you get a new one in your yard! These have the same larval host as the Gulf Fritillary, but to me, they don't seem as common.
They definately don't look common! Nice pic, thanks for sharing your joy!
Hi, all, just checking in--
Love all the pics and info in this thread! Angel, you should post that great photo of your Sundown Coneflower in Plantfiles.
And Asfla, the one of the Pineland sunflower, too!
And all the other BF pics are interesting 'habitats' for the Bugfiles, too. So pretty all of them!
We are just now getting some interesting BF visitors to the sunny flower border--have some black swallowtail cats on my parsley and some cats on my new aristolochia, too. And lots of other BFs cruising through checking out the colorful blooms so summer is in full swing as of a few days ago. It's interesting to watch what flowers they go to (or don't go to). I am observing some surprises! (Like I didn't expect swallowtails to nectar on daylilies!)
Put out some plums that had 'gone over' and some orange slices with a bit of hummingbird nectar poured on it for good measure and got some visitors right away (swallowtails, again). But last night a raccoon came and stole it and broke my pretty dish, too! Sob. I knew it was too good to last!
No pics--left my battery in the charger in the hotel in Los Angeles and 'housekeeping' hasn't sent it back to me. Still hoping. Right.
Keep posting. I will be lurking and loving it!
Sue - Your Julia (Dryas iulia largo) butterfly is so pretty! I had just been looking through my Florida butterfly book and saw the Julia and was reading up on it. I don't recall ever seeing one, but I hope to this Fall if not sooner. According to my book and the photos they show, yours is a female. I'm sure she'll be laying eggs around your vines. Keep an eye out. That's one that I don't believe anyone has documented here. I would love to see the life cycle on this species! (Hint, hint) The cats are black, with black spikes (like the GF) and have an orange head! Thanks for posting your beautiful photo! (I can't seem to find much on it doing a web search.)
The only info was:
http://www.floridastateparks.org/bahiahonda/docs/ButterfliesIdentifiedintheFLKeys.pdf (Which is a Florida Keys pdf file.) and this brief listing:
http://www.floridagardener.com/butterflies/brushfoots.htm
By the way, they use the trap line flight strategy ..... strategy is to visit a series of flowers that are spread out over several suburban lots, several miles of forest, etc. Humans imagine that visiting these flowers a couple of times a day must mean that the butterflies follow a regular path from one clump of flowers to the next, much the same way a human trapping animals for fur would set out a series of traps and follow the "trapline" every day to see what's been caught.
This message was edited Jul 2, 2007 8:39 AM
This thread now has 150 posts. I think it's time to start a new thread. Someone want to start it off with a photo? Just title the new thread:
DAILY BUTTERFLIES PAGE 7
Thanks again and again Becky!!! Thanks to all of you for posting your super great pics!! We have had so much rain it is phenomenal! I can't complain though...Late and long watering has been emblazoned on my memory, and I'm very thankful for this rain.
I have made a new thread to continue.. Hope you all will continue posting what you see in your neck of the woods!!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/743251/
Love,
:-Deb