Despite the rain.... I finally have a few butterflies visiting my garden. Here is my first swallowtail caterpillar I believe, hanging out on one of my parsleys.
Finally....some butterflies!
And here is a gulf fritillary chrysalid....and there are many more cats munching happily on the passionvines.
Hooray for you!!! I knew they would get to you. Congratulations.
Now that they've started you'll have more than you know what to do with 8*D
Great picture. I love the Black Swallowtails.
Terrie
Oooops...forgot pic.
And I am not sure what this one is...perhaps the hummingbird moth? He was at least 3'' long sitting on my window.
What a beautiful moth!
Not sure what this little guy is.
Awesome pic of the swallowtail cat blue eyes. I have had them in my yard for several years as I buy dill particularly for that reason. However, after they eat and grow up I never see them again. This makes me a little sad. I just think they are beautiful cats but must admit they are the only kind I have ever had. Thanks for sharing.
Kim your third pic may be that of a moth that is of the hornworm. It feeds on tomato, and Datura plants in my yard, but I let them live because I love the moths too.
http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/35/
This looks like your next photo I think; the Hackberry Emperor.
http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/53/
Congrats on all your new found garden friends!!!
Thanks! I thought the big one could be that, I have a lot of tomato plants this year although right now they need lifesavers...lol.
Here is a black swallowtail I was observing this morning feeding in my front bed. Just beautiful!
Another one this morning, seemingly addicted to the rudbeckia.
Kim - I've been seeing a lot of action from Skippers and bees on mine too! Love those plants!!! :-) Beautiful photo!
Kim,
That shot of the Rudbeckia is unreal!
Adrienne
HI Kim!
Beautiful Pipevine ST (male), there, Great pic too! I had the pleasure of raising a batch of about 6 of them this spring. They are the poisonous butterfly that Black ST's are designed to mimic, they are often mistaken by their predators. For this reason they are also harder to ID, unless you've been around them a lot. The cats look very different though. Here's one of the cats I had.
:-Deb,
The one up there in your post Post #3667555 is a Hackberry Emperor, like Sheila said..:-)
There on the Rudbeckia is a lovely Pearl Crescent...
Here are some pics of a couple Pipevine ST's released May 28.. This is a female>
Kim,
Do you have any pipevines in your area, do you grow them? There are a couple native Aristolochias they use here in Texas. Managed to get my paws on a couple of them, and they like A. elegans the best here. I wish more people would grow Aristolochia because there seems to be a shortage of this butterfly lately. It is so nice to see them there in Bryan too!!
This is the male Pipevine ST to compare with yours..
:-Deb
I am enjoying all the photos! Keep em coming!
Deb - It looks like the male has more blue on it's wings. Is that how you tell the male from the female? Just lovely!!!
Thanks for the ID.....I am pretty new to all this so I was just guessing. I am so happy to be seeing them! I really like the rudbeckia shot too, I took about 10 pics since the butterfly just kept sitting there for a good part of the afternoon. A great opportunity to work on my novice camera skills. I don't have any pipevine in my yard, I tried growing some from seed but it never really took off.
:) Kim
I also noticed Sat afternoon that the caterpillar was missing from his parsley. He was pretty big so I am hoping to find his chrysalis somewhere nearby. My parsley is kinda hidden amongst some other plants, I think it helped keep him hidden too.
Wow those are great!!
Kim,
If you are interested, I have a couple different kind of Pipevine seed.. A tomentosa, and A elegans. If you like to try again this year, establishing them in fall, and covering during winter might give you better luck. I'm in the exchange, just send me an envelope if you are interested..
:-Deb
Those are fantastic pictures! I really like the one on the rudbeckia. That would be great on your computer desktop :)
blue_eyes, What an amazing shot!
What kind of camara are you using there?!
I just have to ask -
This message was edited Jul 3, 2007 9:28 AM
That PC on the Rudbeckia is a great shot!