I was checking on the Gulf Fritillaries in one of my cat cages today and saw a "strange" caterpillar. Looked similar to the GFs but had white patches on it, too. Luckily I had my handy-dandy field guide to caterpillars. It turned out to be a Variegated Fritillary. This is the first time I'd ever seen one of those. I don't recall even noticing that type of butterfly in my yard. I'm anxious now for it to pupate and emerge.
Terrie
Someone New in the cage
Here's a picture I took of him.
Terrie- Im not sure where you are...E or W Coast? I can't get V. Fritts where I am but it's super cool that you did! Post some pic's if you can. Ive heard that there cocoons are really pretty too!
Adrienne
East coast. Barrier island of Melbourne. GFs are my most raised butterflies. I'll be glad to post some picts. I'll take some when she/he pupates and emerges. I'll be curious to see if the pupa is different than the GFs. This is my first Variegated, so I don't know much about them.
Terrie
Terrie - That is so awesome you have a Variegated Fritillary! I have never seen one here just south of you! I am looking forward to seeing your photos of him! He's a handsome cat! :-)
Congrats on the VF. The chrysalids are so pretty!!! Love their markings and metallic designs. I raised a few last October. They used the native green violet as a larval host.
Here's a sneak peak at what you can look forward to. The photo does not do the color justice. You'll feel like you found a pot of gold when you see the chrysalis.
~ Cat
Everyone keep their fingers crossed.
I went out this morning and the cat was just laying there. I hope she's just molting. She was just fine yesterday and all the GF cats are fine.
Terrie
Keep us posted. I hope she is ok.
~Lucy
Just when I thought I was going to have to post that the news was not good -- she just seemed to lay there for 3 days -- all of a sudden she's up and crawling around the top of the cat cage!
I took her (him?) out and put her in her own private cage with a nice fresh passionvine plant. I'll keep watch and make sure she's gonna be okay.
Terrie
Yeah! She/he must have just needed a long nap. : )
Yep. Although, after 3 days I was beginning to think she was Sleeping Beauty. She's sure making up for the "lost meals".
8*D
Thanks! That's really good to know...I never thought that they would just hang out for 3 days.
Adrienne
I have noticed that the cats I have in the house are not as active in the cloudy raining days we have been having. I have started leaving the light on in that room during the day to make sure it doesn't get too dark.
Hi Sheila,
I've found that the Cat's that I try to raise inside don't do as well! Maybe it's my AC?
Adrienne
May be. I have a room that is 'unfinished' currently and I almost close off the vent. The cages sit in front of a window too. I think they have a better chance inside. After one died on me, I stopped bringing them in, but still watched each day. Then I saw three small bst cats and watched them until the second stage. Then one day one was missing, then the next day another. I decided to bring the last one in, but got busy and forgot to get him. The next day it was gone too. They weren't big enough to pupate, so I am sure a wasp or spider was having them as a meal. Since then I have started to rescue those I see if I can.
Oh and word to the wise. I carried one of my cages with only chrystalis out to get some sunshine the other day. I didn't want to put them directly in the sun so I sat them down by the pond on a storage bench. It started to look like rain about an hour later so I retrieved it. I noticed movement and realized that tiny ants had gotten through the tule and attacked one of the pupae! A tiny hole had been chewed in the chrystalis. I won't do that anymore!
Where do you have your cages when they eclose? I have 5 BST chrystalis in a mesh clothes hamper. Four are on sticks and one attached himself to the top of the hamper. I've had them under my patio and decided to hang the bag on a trellis in the garden. This seemed to be their same natural environment with more circulation and humidity than under my patio. Do you think they'll be ok? (I know one is dead though, His head never completed covered when he changed to a chrystalis.)
Cdawg, don't give up on it yet. The head skin usually falls off to the bottom of the cage, it may have stuck.
Oh, ok Sheila, thats good news!
I have the cages from Live Monarch.org. I keep them on my screened in porch. It faces the North, and the cages get some of the rising sun. The butterflies seem to eclose in the mornings, and then have a little sunlight to help them dry their wings. I had about 20 BSTs overwinter last year, so had to bring the cages in the house a couple of times when it got really cold. I lost one or two of the BSTs but the majority eclosed in March and April.
I just checked on the VF and she's already eating some breakfast.
Terrie
Do you think mine might overwinter too? I was hoping the condtions would be favorable out in the sunshine. They formed a chrystilis going on two weeks now.
I looked up VF on a website map after seeing yours for the first time just to read about it's habits. In hopes one would visit me. They are so cute.
The things that look like ants getting the cats and chrysalids, is actually a kind of fly. The ants attend the cats and help them, These flies which look an awful lot like ants, will destroy the eggs, cats, and chrysalids. I am still doing some research on these hateful little buggers. Sheila you have done the best thing putting them in a safe warm room in the house.
Adrienne, They will do much better in warmer temps. The cooler it is the slower the cats grow, and even make their chrysalids earlier.. thereby producing smaller butterflies. I have a BST chrysalis that is about the smallest I have ever seen. Smaller ones are just as healthy as the larger ones. Just the fact they made it long enough to become a butterfly is very excellent.
:-Deb
No, Deb, these were the Argentina ants per the guy that sprayed our house a few years back. They don't sting people usually, and you can't really find their mounds, from what he told us. They don't seem to have a trail like other ants. We don't use pesticides outside nowdays and they are all in the landscaping stones near the pond. When it rains I always see some as I get in that storage box, just never thought about it when I sat the cage there. I think they came up through the bottom. Also the one they killed had been knocked off by another cat and I had it on the bottom of the cage, which made it more vunerable. Live and learn! At least the others were fine.
I released two more GFs yesterday. I hope to see a few swallowtails begin to eclose this week.