And a hairstreak was enjoying my geraniums.
DAILY BUTTERFLIES page 8
Sorry pd, I forgot the link:
http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/404/
Thanks Josephine!
I was checking on my gulf frit cats and I saw these droplet-looking things. Does anyone know if that's something the cats are doing or is it totally unrelated? I know what the eggs look like, and they're different.
Speaking of eggs...a little blurry but this was the best I could get.
Here's my biggest guy! I only saw two this morning, but now I counted about ten cats! They all seem to like to hang out at the end of the tendrils; that's where I found most of them.
Great BF updates on everyone's gardens.
Great pic of the ST. Didn't know the Palamedes was found so far north as Virginia so I looked at the map on the link, and, sure enough, they are even found not too far south of where we are. So I will have to keep a sharp eye out!
We are (finally) getting busy in our BF garden. Saw 5 Swallowtails nectaring when I walked out to get the mail. Black and ETST, and lots of other little BFs that I will have to learn to recognize if they ever will sit still.
The Swallowtails are still crazy over the Verbena Bonarienses and ignore all the other luscious blooms I have out, with the exception of the Phlox, a purple one, which got one Lep visitor.
Haven't seen a single monarch yet. Am I being impatient?!
Have a happy BF gardening evening! t.
Oh, and pdoyle, please add your ST photo and note your location to bug files.
I am sure others up north like me will be interested to know the PST aren't solely found in FLA. Thanks!
Thanks for the info about the ants. I watched them while I was taking these pictures and they climbed up and down but seemed to ignore the cats. In other news, my Mom works at home and her office window faces the front of the house (where the plumbagos are planted). She updates me on butterflies she sees, and she said the Gulf Frits have been very active. She did say she sees most bfs in the morning which I thought was interesting.
Great work everyone!
I love the PST Dawn, how cool! Millie it is good to get your mom involved, glad you are sharing visitors! Even gladder to see you have frits now! Yaay!
I have some cat pics to share, if you all are interrested.. Some clear, and some not so clear... however, here goes..
Here are a couple of Giant Swallowtail cats on Hercules club, (Josephine gave me).. One is pupating and it's little sibling is still munching out>
Here is some of the extent of Pipevine Swallowtail cats ~ One big one >
Here are a few of the tiny hatchlings>
Deb - I am hoping you find out what predator is killing the cats! I recently lost 3 more Sulphur cats. I knew something was wrong when I found them on top of the Cassia leaves instead of along the stems. I am sooooo mad that something is killing them!!!! Grrrrr.........
I must say that I am enjoying the butterflies ....... through all of you who are posting such beautiful pictures! I miss not seeing but a few here ...... (sniff, sniff)
Then another wonderful larval host plant, (which I cant wait to see bloom), is being visited my a few Silver Spotted Skippers.. The cats are so awesome! They tunck themselves inside the leaves and grow in there. Then they move along and do the same thing again until they make a cocoon and eclose. It was very difficult to get a good pic of them. I had to peel back part of a leaf.....
What plant is that Deb? Inquiring minds want to know!
It is False Indigo... Amorpha fruiticosa Another plant Josephine gave me and turned me on to. The butterfly fairy just whispered in my ear and said you need one of these.. It will be interresting to see what it does in FL. Will you be the test garden lady once again? I have a couple small suckers coming up from the root of one of my2 plants. If you look it up, I dare say, you will fall in love as I did.
:-Deb
Deb - I planted some seeds of False Indigo and they sprouted. (If they are the actual plant.) Can you take a photo of yours? I need to compare it to mine. Mine are small very small. Thank you for the wonderful offer, though! :-)
Lookie Lookie Becky!
Seems Silver Spotted Skippers come to Sabastian Fl>> I will get the Amorpha rooted and send it as soon as I know it's fine and dandy for ya.... Your such a blessing!
I will see how easy it is to root as well, so no one has to be left out, (of course).
Paying it forward~
:-Deb
I added it the bugfiles! Thanks for telling me to do so. I wouldn't had thought of it.
Dawn
You can compare it after you get the one I send... Best hands on, and best in bloom for show...
However, I am outside on the deck now and took a couple shots for ya.
Very good Dawn, I'm glad you did, there was only the one pic to date..Thanks!
Here is another more close up pic of A. fruiticosa
Hi everyone! I'm going on vacation starting Saturday morning, so if I'm not around that's why. I'll be in WV and KY and I'll try to hunt butterflies. I'll be doing some genealogy research and that usually involves climbing hills and walking through the woods. Mom's bringing her laptop, but finding civilization in WV can be difficult (we've printed a list of hotspots though). I hope I get some good pictures of butterflies I don't see down South! And maybe while I'm gone my cats will turn into beautiful Gulf Fritillaries.
Melanie
Have a good time, Melanie. You will have to tell us all about your trip, when you get back. : )
Stay safe. ~Lucy
Have fun, Melanie! I hope you see all kinds of pretty butterflies and DO take some photos too if you can! :-)
Deb - Oh my gosh! Your False Indigo looks like a tree!!!! Mine is itty bitty! LOL! The leaves kind of look similar. But mine are doing the same thing that my Hercules Club is doing. Growing straight up instead of branching out! What is wrong with these plants!!!! Is that Giant Orange Cosmos next to your Indigo?
The squirrels kept jumping on my GOC and finally toppled them over. The whole blooming bunch of plants!!! Grrrr.... so I cut those big old stalks about 5" from the ground. Well, wouldn't ya know it ..... they are growing out branches and leaves again from the severe pruning I did! LOL! How tall can those Cosmos get??? Mine were about 5' tall when they fell over. I think the squirrels think they are Tarzan or Cheeta they way the do acrobatics in my yard. I find broken branches on plants all the time! The little stinkers!!!! :-)
Can anybody tell what this butterfly is? I have looked and looked at the gallery on butterfliesandmoths.org, but I can't evenfigure out the family.
Thanks,
Suzy
He is totally taupe and bland. No orange or gold or anything that I could see.
Here's one with his wings closed.
This is as close as I could get.
Judy/Tabasco,
Thanks! How on earth did you get that? When I was looking, I saw it, but since the shape was so different, and the colors didn't really match, I dismissed it entirely.
----> "Females have larger and rounder wings than the males and are more pale."
Thanks!
Suzy
Hope you have a brilliant trip Melanie, can't wait to hear what you see up there!!
Suzy~
Definatly Hackberry Emperor.. They are most amusing butterflies.. As soon as they enter the garden they act like they are the boss. Coming in will sit up on a tree leaf kindof high, and when another butterfly comes in it will chase them around and round. Most of the other bf's will be chased, but hold their ground. It is still very funny to watch them. When we have brew on hand they will com right to you with just a drop>
http://www.theletteroflove.com/wallpaper/
Scroll down to the third and fourth pic... My daughter loves luring them to eat out of her hand. Very friendly little things.
This morning the 2 Giant STs eclosed at the same time... Ben helped me release them>
They both needed to be coaxed out of the safety of the cage. Here is one of them hanging in the Privit over the garden>
This other one I took out by hand and set on a Vitex bloom>
One more, a profile shot of the same one on Vitex>
I'm out on the deck now, and it's about to rain... I need to get my computer inside.... What a day it's been already!!!
:-Deb
Ooooh, Deb! Great close-up in that last photo! :-)
Fabulous shots of the GST, deb! What a butterfly paradise you must have!
Illoquin--We had a Hackberry come sit on our bush last fall and we had a terrible time trying to ID it--went through many books and websites because it just didn't look like the photos either. Finally someone from Ohio Lepidopterists ID-ed it for us. So I didn't forget!! (for once!) LOL
A little modest butterfly (or moth?) pic to follow up the fabulous Giant Swallowtail. (I got my old camera up and running...)
The flower is gorgeous, Tabasco -- what is it? I think the butterfly is a skipper, aren't they the ones that look 3D?
Deb, Gorgeous as usual - and HUGE! Do you have wasps there? Or those big bumblebees or carpenter bees? SOMETHING is preventing me from having the butterfly paradise I deserve!
Suzy
Thanks y'all.. T~, I believe it is a female Sachem Skipper scro ll down near the bottom of this page>
http://www.carolinanature.com/butterflies/sachem.html
Here is more info>
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=2103&chosen_state=39*Ohio
very nice shot.. I love the flower! Is it an aster?
:-D
Suzy, your not alone. I see BF's but they are not in the #'s that I would like. I would also like to see different ones too.
I made the BF brew with the beer, nanas & brown sugar. Can anyone give me some advice as to how to serve it?
This message was edited Jul 13, 2007 2:18 PM
Here is our butterfly buffet and and puddle, we dribble the brew on the logs and it works great.
Yes Dawn!
You can take an old log and put a large screw hook in the end and hang it from a shepherd's hook. You can also set out a bowl and place a few large pieces of bark in it and drizzle it on them.
(I like the hanging one best bc it is up and away from ants, etc.)
Maybe some other folks here can add to these.
:-)
Josephine and I were typing at the same time, LOL..
Josephine, That set-up is brilliant.. I love it!
:-Deb
Thank you Deb, one thing that has been happening is that the bees have found it too, and they crowd the butterflies out, I wonder if that will become a problem, what do you think?