Giant ST kindof the same story, but about 4 more eggs to add to the 3 that I already harvested yesterday. 1 hatched and 6 waiting to hatch.
As far as the Skippers go, I took some pics of their hideouts today. Some pretty interresting architects, and styles. Just like humans, some messy, some neat.. All adorable! Even with the foam the leaves dry too fast, they really need to be on a live plant. I am out there during the daytime, so birds have not found them. I will suffice to raise the one I have for now and check on these and see what happens. Looks like most of them are ready to morph by now. Once they do that I might collect them then.
I decided to make another thread for just the SS Skippers, because there were several nests. I will put the link here when I am finished posting all the pics.
;-D
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 11
I got a close up on a Red Admiral today.
I couldn't get a good shot of this skipper. Any ideas on the kind?
I chased a Tiger Swallowtail today, and finally got his picture. Barely. lol : )
~Lucy
And then a Monarch came, and I recovered a couple of eggs. : )
Nice shot of Red Admiral Al!, and you can check the BF to find your skipper: http://davesgarden.com/bf/b/Lepidoptera/Hesperiidae/none/none/genus/0/
If it's not in there, you can check http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/map?http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/map_fc=1&x=204&y=55_fc=1&x=204&y=55 for the Wisconsin Skippers, and pics.
Way to go on the recovery Lucy!! That seems to be the best way what with all the preditors out.
I made a separate thread for the SSSkipper, so as not to get the information burried in our 'Daily'. Here is the link:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/754389/
:-Deb
Do the Monarch eggs on my milkweed have preditors? They have been out there about 4 days.
chris
This nice female Tiger Swallowtail finally noticed my garden. She really enjoyed the butterfly bushes and stayed for quite some time. Of course, my friend who was sitting outside with me, thought I was nuts when I rushed inside to grab the camera! LOL!!
one more...
Yes Chris, The certainly do. The butterflies are outnumbered by their predators by a large percent. I have learned to take in any viable butterflies I can find, from egg to chrysalis. They are vulnerable at every stage in between. I am still seeing new ones all the time, that use cats and eggs as their primary food source. :-(
:-Deb
Variegated Fritillary...just a few minutes ago...been trying to catch an image for a week now. It's a shy butterfly...up until today, then it decided to pose and strut it's stuff for 5 whole minutes.
Today, this Zebra Longwing is laying eggs on my Passion Flower Vine.
Lucky YOU ! Expect some babies soon! :-) I haven't seen a ZLW here at all this year so far. I had 2 last year that hung out in my yard. You'd think being the Florida butterfly that there would be much more around. Nice photo!
Deb, If I bring the eggs in....do I just sever the leaf from the plant? Wouldnt the leaf dry up or will they hatch before it does?
chris
Lily! I love those TSTs! Great capture! I think the Dark form is more rare, and is especially lovely!
Chris~ I take in the stem too, so I can stick it into a piece of wetfoam. The sprigs will wilt some, but not completely dry out. Be sure to wash it lightly and check for any small spiders while your at it. When they hatch, you can clip a small amount of MW with stem and feed them 1 leaf to every 2 cats, then 1 leaf per cat, and as they grow judge accordingly. But always clip the MW with the stem, so it can be put in wetfoam to stay watered. You will quickly gt used to how much they will need to eat. No sense in putting too much they will waste it, and come fall you will need all the MW you can get for the migration back south.
More info on the Quick and Easy Cat Cage thread~
Melody! Nice shot of the VF, they are so beautiful!
bsharf! Congrats on the ZLW!! Which Passionvine do you have?
:-Deb
This message was edited Jul 30, 2007 1:16 PM
Is this also a Variegated Fritillary?
What a sweet little guy!! Love that contrast against the purple!!
I think yours may be an Aphrodite Fritillary Sybil....anybody agree or disagree?
Here's another angle if that helps.
Not Variegated, but not sure of the Aphodite i.d.
I looked at www.thebutterflysite.com and came up with the closest match so far. I am a little south and west for this guy according to the map provided.
Arctic Fritillary
Boloria chariclea
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1703&chosen_state=27*Minnesota
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1676&chosen_state=27*Minnesota
I'm still going with Aphrodite. The markings look closest.
Aphrodite...... Positive! And some good shots Sybil!
;-D
Ok folks, when I left this morning for work, Fatty (my GF cat) was in the J position. So at lunch I called home to ask Mom (who works from home) to go check on him. She said he was "in his crystalis" (I corrected her later). I thought that was rather fast and asked a few follow up questions, but sure enough when I got home he looked like this:
So since Fatty was all curled up, I added two more cats to my new home. Here's the biggest one - I expect him to join Fatty soon. I thought I lost him for a minute, but then I saw that he had crawled up to the top of the mesh.
So after all of that I went out to the corner to continue where I left off weeding. As I mentioned earlier, I finally planted my pipevine on its trellis. I was excited to see that I have a small bloom forming, but as I was twining the vine around the trellis today, I noticed this:
A little further down I found another cluster. Are they good, bad? Should I get excited? If not, let me down easy ok? : )
Ya'll have been posting such wonderful buttefly photos!!! Am jealous...I haven't had a zebra lay eggs on my passiflora yet...still hoping. Gotta love those Variegated Frits too. They use green violet as a larval host out here.
MELLIE ...looks like you got some pipevine eggs. They seem a tad more yellow than I am used to seeing but could just be the geographical difference...unless they're polydamas eggs?
They're not any bug eggs that I recognize...and believe me I've photographed and raised more bug eggs than I care to admit to :o)
Keep us posted...if they're pipevines or polys we'll be able to tell once the caterpillars emerge. Congrats again!
~ Cat
This message was edited Jul 30, 2007 7:18 PM
Millie, here's some Polydamus eggs on my Pipevine, maybe you can compare them. They look similar.
I've been scouring the internet for photos, and right now I would lean toward Polydamus, but watch nature go and surprise me. I went ahead and brought them in so everyone can feel relieved. They have their own little home separate from the Gulf Frits. I'm sure they would get along, but I've got this thing about one plant per pot.
I'm urging Dad to build me a butterfly cage for my birthday (he's gotten into woodworking and recently built me compost bins). We have a similar setup for our veiled chameleon, but on a larger scale. Dad even built him a little ladder since he was trying to climb places he really couldn't go.
I've been seeing a mysterious swallowtail flying around that I can never seem to get a good glimpse of, and it could have been a Polydamus. Then again, it could have been a Pipevine! I guess we'll find out. The eggs look kind of like light green bubbles that got heavily dusted with pollen - kind of orange/yellow/gold. I thought it was neat how they were laid in clusters - I'm used to the Frits which are so random. Can't wait until they hatch! I'll keep everyone posted.
Melanie
Good photo Fly_girl. Poly eggs seem more yellow whereas Pipevines are orangish red. These are Pipevine eggs.
Mellie, yours look more yellow like the ones fly_girl posted. Let's lean towards Poly. What type of aristolochia are they on?
~ Cat
This message was edited Jul 30, 2007 7:44 PM
Definitely leaning toward Polydamus now. You guys take such great photos! Now I want them to hatch (patience is not one of my virtues). I'm glad I brought them inside - not so much for the predators but for the torrential rains we've been getting everyday! My weeds are bigger than my plants (sniff, sniff).
Oh, I did mean to tell everyone with your beautiful coneflowers that I am so jealous. My first one just bloomed the other day, and I had to divide some today. I grow them from seed, and I swear they're all on their own schedule. Does anyone else notice that coneflowers need huge amounts of sun to grow? I'm so used to shading everything from the FL heat, but not them! My echinacea is in with my blanket flowers, but the butterflies haven't figured that out yet. Hopefully, I'll soon have a pretty picture of a butterfly perched on mine! : )
Melanie
P.S. Just saw your question, Cat! They are on Aristolochia gigantea. I bought it at the USF butterfly festival so you better not tell me they won't thrive on it or something!
This message was edited Jul 30, 2007 8:50 PM
So far I would lean toward Poly too, bc I have seen lots of PVST eggs lately, and they aren't in such a tight cluster. In any case Congrats Melanie! I think you have some beautiful gregarious caterpillars on your hands.
Pipevine eaters seem to really like the stems the best. They eat a bit of the leaf, but they actually fight over who gets the tip, or end of the vine, (in my experience). So when I put the cuttings in the foam, I don't have to cut a lot of major leaf off the plant. Just a stem with a few small leaves.
:-Deb
I believe the Polydamas use a. gigantea as a larval host. Congrats again!!! I have a huge...huge a. gigantea that has really taken off this year...hope to see some Polys using it this year. Trouble is the vine has almost reached the top of the telephone pole...won't be able to reach cats if a butterfly decides to use it...might prevent the phone company from cutting it down though :o)
~ Cat
Was at the NABA park today after work. Got to see a Two-Barred Flasher that has been guarding the same area for about a month now. When you walk by it will fly up and zip around you as if to shoo you away :o) very territorial!!! Am assuming it's a "HE" as it has decided the area across the native coyotillo (larval host for TBF) is the choiciest spot to find a female.
ps..
...although am thinking the only reason a female would be around the coyotillo if if she were already ready to lay eggs. Maybe he's hoping to mate after all the eggs are laid??? What a horndog!!! ROLF!!!
This message was edited Jul 31, 2007 3:13 PM
drats...how do I keep doing that...sorry for the double post. Slow puter!!! UGH!!!
Oh well, here's the ventral view. Gorgeous colors and he's a porker!
~ Cat
This message was edited Jul 31, 2007 6:44 AM
I was seeing Buckeyes today and started thinking about what they use as host plants. I found this list below (from a Texas site) and then realized that I even have Snakeherb (two kinds of Dyschoriste species, actually) and Buck-Horn Plantain now, among other things on the list. But I haven't seen those cats on any of my plants from that list. I really want some Buckeye cats! Oh, BTW, the Spicebush ST are back...one or more laid lots of eggs already. Just hope the cats survive this time.
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) host plants: ACANTHACEAE: Snake-herb (Dyschoriste linearis), Violet Ruellia (Ruellia nudiflora), PLANTAGINACEAE: English Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), Pale-Seed Plantain (P. virginica), Buck-Horn Plantain (P. coronopus), Dooryard Plantain (P. major), Common Plantain (P. rugelii), Cedar Plantain (P. helleri), Tallow-Weed (P. hookeriana); SCROPHULARIACEAE: Beach Gerardia (Agalinis fasciculata), Flat-Flower Gerardia (Agalinis homalantha), Slender Gerardia (Agalinis tenuifolia), False Foxglove (Aureolaria grandifloria), American Bluehearts (Buchnera americana), Texas Paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa), Prairie Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja purpurea), Butter and Eggs (Linaria vulgaris); Snapdragon Vine (Maurandya antirrhiniflora), Toad-Flax (Nuttallanthus canadensis), VERBENACEAE: Common Frogfruit (Lippia nodiflora), Lance-Leaf Frogfruit (Lippia lanceolata), Brazilian Verbena (Verbena bonariensis).
Its been a long, hot summer!
Wow Cat, the Flasher is great! What brilliant color, and attitude, lol!
Guess you might see some little ones what with his diligence:-)
Linda, What a list!! It's amazing how elusive the cats seem to be, but my guess is there aren't many per mile. Maybe the Buckeye has so many plants they can host, coupled with the nature of the female to lay her eggs singly, that could be the reason they are hard to find. There may be many of them, only far between them. They are solitary too!
I found this buckeye cat when it was just about to be stabbed by a stinkbug. Whew! I hope you will find one too:-)
So cool your Spicebush is getting eggs. Put them in a gladware asap. These cages have been working so well for raising healthy cats. Haven't lost one yet.
tgif! He is beautiful! Even being around the block a few times!
:-Deb
I see lots of Buckeyes flying around at the ranch but for the life of me cannot find a single caterpillar, let alone an egg. There is a native plantain that grows wild everywhere...I mean everywhere!!! But alas, no sign of 'pillars. Guess if I got down on my hands and knees with a magnifying glass it would help?!
Yeah right...and have a rattler sneak up behind me?! NOT!!!!
~ Cat