Silver Spotted Skipper Tour of Nests

As I mentioned in the Daily Butterflies Thread, these skippers have all different styles. "Some neat, some messy, all adorable." The seem to need the live plant for the nest, so that can waltz outside when the coast is clear, and have something to eat, and scurry back into their unique little houses they built for themselves. I have several different ones to post, so please hang on a few while I get them all in this thread.

Here is one who knew it was clear, coming out to have a bite to eat...

Here is the messy one in it's little leaf ball. It is the biggest one, so maybe he wants to keep the food stacked in all around,so he doesn't have to go out to eat... lol!

Neat as a pin Skipper. Very stealth design..

Another view of the neat Jones Skipper peeping out to see whose there.

Good ideas are worth copying, this one is a copy cat..

This one just threw it's place together, no plans, just.. gettin er done! Get a load of that mug, would ya?

A larger version of the neat one... kinda swanky, with lots of room.

Smallest one, an effeciency.. pretty good for a beginner!

And then there is another big fella.. He borrowed some real estate from the adjacent Vitex tree where it touches the Amorpha.. Inbetween a substantial host plant, and thinking about the eminent transition to nectar plants.

Ok, that's all the pictures I have today of these Silver Spotted Skippers. When they morph I will collect them, any day now. They have some really cool and creative architecture. They are excellent builders of their own shelter, and it's a whole other world in there.

:-Deb

Cute! I'd sure like to get some of those...or most any skipper to raise.

Great images!! I've got tons of mature Skippers of all different kinds...guess I need to go looking for the cats!

Thanks Linda,
I have some Amorpha if you want a cutting. I think they root pretty easy. Then next year you might get some of these guys.

Thanks Melody,
Some skippers are probably more difficult to find because of their genius housebuilding skills. The easier ones would be those that use shrubs or trees. The hardest would be ones that use low growing plants or grasses.
With shrubs etc., just look for leaves stuck together. I bet you find something!

:-Deb

Deb - They are adorable! I have a feeling that any skippers I see .... are coming from the vacant lots next to me. We keep the grass cut pretty low in my yard, so I doubt they have a host plant that they are laying eggs on. I would sure love to raise some though. I will continue to look around my yard! Too cute!

Thx Becky,
With some using St Augustine, and Bermuda grasses for a host plant, I suppose they could very well be breeding under the thatch. Yes even cut grass! They don't do significant dammage like a gurb worm etc.. They would leave the grass in better shape even, bc they don't eat much, and the frass is good for the grass. Those would be the most difficult to find, but I bet some are in your yard low enough to avoid the mower.
Check the species that you are seeing and look up the host plant.
:-D

Awesome thread Deb. Those are cute little things. I love their little houses. Now are those some you have taken in or are those still outside doing their thing? Anyways, they are cute. I love the guy with the house that he just threw together. Looks like my house. lol.

Leslie

LOL, Leslie! They are some cute little cats for sure, Deb!

Yeah Leslie, They are still out there. There are so many I couldn't take them all in. I would strip the Amorphas bare trying to keep tender leaves in their cages. I have only one in captivity, and I keep fresh leaf stems in wet foam for it. I have placed the gladware it is in inside of a brown paper sack with holes and a little door I made to check on it and fold back closed. LOL. I think I have at least 16 nests of these littl guys out back. They are on 2 separate plants. We don't want them to become like Purple Martins... They build pretty good little hideouts for themselves.

So far Becky, I don't have the heart to interfere with any more of them.

:-Deb

very nice shots Deb

Thanks Donna:-)
I did see my Cardinal abscound with one from the Amorpha in the corner. He had quite a struggle on the fence trying to get it out of his little house. Can't say I'm surprised. Might have to throw a net over that plant.. Do you think it would help? If not, I can't worry about it. The other bush is out in the middle where Cardinal usually will not tread. It would be a bummer to lose all of them. Time and experience will tell, as always.

:-Deb

it can't hurt Deb. I have never seen a bird go after any of my cats. I guess I keep them to well fed lol

I feed my birds pretty well too, the Cardinals just love the caterpillars. I put out mealies, and the Robins, Mockingbirds, and Sparrows eat them, but Cards won't come in that close. I have Cardinals favorite seeds...still they like to nab a few cats. One Amorpha is in a pot and I need to move it closer in to the deck. Maybe a net for the one in the corner.

~sigh~

Well, Deb, you 'bout gave me a heart attack. Glad you explained mealies! Whooo! Do you have any blue birds? They just love mealworms too.

Those eyes of the cat in your picture peeping out of his little blanket is adorable! Those eyes give him so much personality.

Got a question about all these BST cats I'm raising. When they start to roam the cage, one or two has knocked down a couple of crystalis. What do I do?

Deborah

Take out the *hardened* chrysalids asap. Put them in an extra safe well ventilated box. The little waspy flies can get through tiny holes. BSTs are their fav food. When all of mine have finished pupating, I am going to move them all into the hamper, and still check each one for any black spots. (That is where the flies place their eggs.) If any have a sign of an abnormal black dot the size of a pin head, put them in a separate container for sure. How many do you have altogether?

Deb, I tried to count them best I could with the poor lighting under my patio. I counted 33 crystalis in the large bf castle. They aren't all finished pupating. Some of these 33 aren't harden yet, because one cat bumped one and it wiggled. I don't see any black spots. Thank Goodness. I did notice that four crystalises are lime green in color. That's odd.

In my 20 qt container that's inside my house, there's about 34-40 cats in the box.

In my garden, on parsley plants, I noticed there's four or five cats that are probably 3rd instar and three that are about to start roaming because they are big and fat. I'm running out of cages. I'm having to leave them in the garden.

I hope these all make it be my parsley plants are getting thin.

Should release all these bfs in my yard or take them to a park somewhere. I've got BST coming out of the ying-yang.

Some turn green, some brown. So far we aren't sure why, it isn't camoflague. I say that bc som will pupate on brown wood and their chrysalis is green, and some will pupate on green stems, and they are brown. The hardening takes a day or 2. It is normal for them to wiggle all though the pupa stage, but the chrysalis is hardened off, dry and not so rubbery as at first.
When they are hardened, you can take them out one by one and place them in a tightly sealed breathable container. When they are all done, clean the cage out and make sure they have something to climb up on to hang and dry. I don't know what the tub looks like, but if it has slick sides you could line it by taping paper toweling around the inside, and a piece on the bottom to absorb the liquids they expel after eclosure. If it is sealed well they should be alright. Still check them as often as possible to see if there is even the smallest thing in there with them.

My BSTs are all pupating now too! :-)

When I saw two lizards in one of my parsley patches, I rescued the cats that were raising themselves. What's five more, right?

There ya go Deb! I'm so proud of you!!

:-D

Yep! Can always make room for more! :-)

I went to Walmart to buy another 20 qt clear container. I cut the top out and double folded the tulle for the top. These are kept inside my sunroom. One box is for little cats, the other box is for the big fat cats (4th/5th instar) that are starting to roam. I keep fresh parsley stems in there plus there are some wooden shiskabob skrewers in the box too. After they pupate, I'll put them with the rest of the crystalis in the huge bf castle. I'm hoping these new crystalis eclose soon. You know, I've still got four crystalis from June 28th in there that hasn't eclosed yet. My DH says I'm starting to turn into a butterfly factory. That's just fine with me.

I'm starting to see several Monarchs at the same time. I'd love to raise some of them too.

There's Gulf Frittaries around here too but I don't know where their host plants are. I haven't grown any plants for them yet. I plan to though.

Thanks for the support gang!

Deborah

Hey Deb! That's what we're here for!
I can make some starts of Passaflora "Blue Crown" cuerla. Its a real hardy one. Will take the winter really well. Fall is a good time to get them in. I will be working on it.

:-D

Deborah - Congrats to all the butterfly raising newbies who have had such a successful spring/summer raising cats into butterflies! I'm into my 3rd year of doing that and never tire of it! I'm telling ya .... it's an obsession! LOL! It's kinda my "distraction" of choice! Never mind all the laundry piling up, dishes that need to be done, or the house that could use some serious cleaning. And it definitely beats cleaning the bathrooms! (Of course .... that's what I have kids for!) LOL!

Guess what! I found Monarch eggs this morning! After watching several Monarchs fluttering around I saw some laying eggs on my milkweeds. There they were, among the aphids, milkweed bugs and hover fly larve and HF eggs all on one stalk. EEK! I cut the leaves off that had Monarch eggs and rubbed all the bad bugs off. Those eggs are nice and safe in butter containers. I'll be making another trip to Walmart for another 20 qt container soon. Sorry to hijack your Skipper thread, Deb. I just wanted to tell somebody about my Monarchs.

Oh, congrats on the Monarchs! Maybe they'll be here soon! I haven't seen any more Queens in the yard lately. Our long run of rain seems to be gone and it's sunny most of the time so butterflies are coming around more. Saw the mama SBST today, who seems to prefer mostly one Spicebush plant over the other two. I couldn't get any decent pics because she leaves if I get close enough.

Thanks Linda. Spicebush Swallowtails, Oh My, my next bf wish!

Thats great Linda! I can't wait to see the babies.:-)
Deb~ No problem, your news is worth cutting in for. I'm glad you posted the news. I saw one lonely Queen last week, but it might have been a male, hence no ovipositing.

I pulled the one pot of Amprpha out of the middle of the garden to the deck, to deter the birds. The one I had in a continer looked a little depressed, so I set it back on to the plant. It crawled right on and began building a little house. Some of them are getting downright enormous!

:-D

deb--just found this thread--those pics of the little skipper homes are so cute. I had no idea they were that crafty!

Wonderful series of photographs.

Thank you Judy!
Last weekend I was checking on them and noticed there were a couple of the nests with 2 skippers in them...

:-Deb

Deb, I find that to be strange. LOL Is that a normal thing for them to have a room mate like that?

Evidently it is something they normally do..LOL! There are at least 2 nests with 2 cats snuggled up in them. Very cute!
:-D

That's those 'married' couples.
And they'd prolly like some privacy .. Debnes!
(heehee)

Wonderful photos!!

- Magpye