Sorry Sheila for the wrong id, it does look more like a Silvery Checkerspot, good call deb!
Paige, those yellow bears are cute, I haven't seen any of those or the moths.
Cat, love the Sphinx cats...they are too scary lol
The Ornyth looks like bird doo too, so do the Admirals, at least in the book, haven't actually seen them in person.
Let's Have a Cat Show!
Hey now, we weren't actually wrong! They are Chlosyne, just C. nycteis instead of C. lacinia. :) Sorry that I didn't have time to positively ID them for you but glad that Deb did! Whatever or whoever they are more than welcome to come chow down on my frostweed!
Great pics Cat! Those eye spots are so funny. The horn on their butt kind of creeps me out tho. lol
I've never even heard of an Ornythion ST! (if I did, I forgot...I do that) Thanks for that pic!
Fly, no yellow wooly bears either? That's so strange since you are fairly close to me. I know I've said it before but I LOVE The Woodlands! :) I'm so happy when I start seeing those Cypress trees along the highway.
Yes, at least the Genus was right, do I get a prize? lol
No wooly bears. The Woodlands is beautiful except for the woodlands part.....it's a task to find sun for bf plants. Then again, you don't want to get rid of all your shade because we live 1 mile from the sun! Seriously! Right all you south Texans...it's HOT here!
Here's a pic of a little Luna cat, it's so cute. DonnaB sent me some eggs and this is the only one that has survived, I'm so sad about it. I don't know why, the Sweet Gum branches are fresh, every other day, they just didn't eat.
Great thread Rox! Yes you get a prize, it's in the mail..:-o What a sweet Luna, nice of Donna to share them. Im' glad to see the survivor, aren't they kinda difficult to raise?
I'm just now seeing the thread..It's sure filling up with lots of great pics of cats everyone's raising. I'm so proud of what you/we've ALL accomplished this year. It's the most wonderful hobby in the world, isn't it?
~Missed ya Paige, has it been busy for you this year too? Love your VFrits! Are they using violets? Johnny Jumps? or what? The Queens are some of my fav too, send them this way... Hoping for few to raise myself before the season's over. :-)
~Kristi! Your yellow S cats are super brilliant!! Mine are green now like Terrie's. I do have blooms opening so if I get another brood they will likely be yellow ones. Oh boy!
~Saddleback is amazing Rox and ouch! You're brave. lol! You're right the Polys look like wood grain vaneer! :-O
~Leslie, Have you tried focussing with a magnifying glass up to the lense of your camera? That's how I take a lot of my little cat pics, and it works pretty well.
~Sheila, Great pics of the Qmark! What a happy accident! Neat when that happens!
~Wow Terrie! thats a wholelotta Blackies! Way to go girl!!
~Cat Those Plutos are very cool!! The Orynthions are beautiful! And the Tersas too. I was lucky enough to find one the other day munchin down on a Penta. -Will show new pic after while- Did ya find any more Skipper chrysalids yet?
There is a story that had always been with me since first knowing it as a child. Pollyanna ~It began as a book by Eleanor Hodgman Porter Published 1913
There was a silent movie made of it with Mary Pickford in 1920 and a Disney movie in the 1960's and a newer one made after 2000 by Masterpiece Theater. I just checked out the last mentioned from my local library and watched it last night. I think it is truer to Eleanor's book. It was so cool to see the story again told more accuratly to the original story. Having said all that, yada yada...In the book Pollyanna says her (late) father had always said we should do away with money and pay for things with live butterflies and flowers... Ya gotta love that! Such a powerful little story with ideals that can carry us for a lifetime.
Thought you wonderful bfly raisers would enjoy it too, is all. So it was worth a mention.
I have had more cats this year than ever thanks to the inspiration from you all!
As some of you know I had been trying to get a good Cassia alata to grow, but all the droughts made it difficult to get one to bloom. 1) I have always loved the exotic and majestic tree and flowers, and 2) The Sulphurs!!! This year I finally have one growing well, in the right place, and we've had enough rain. Plus, I have a small brood of Cloudless Sulphurs. Had I not seen her lay the eggs I might not have been able to collect them, however a week ago Sunday it happened!
In a bit I will go out and take some pics of all the other crawling cats I have now. 12 Monarchs have just made chrysalids, but I may be able to find some pics of them and other cats released this year...
Here are the Cloudless Sulphurs pics I took a while ago>
This message was edited Aug 24, 2007 1:34 PM
One more pic of Cloudless Sulphurs > (profile of head) They are just over an inch long now at 10 days old.
oops!
This message was edited Aug 24, 2007 1:32 PM
Thanks deb!
Something has seriously munched on my Pentas but I can't find a cat, I know he's in there somewhere.
I'm hoping to attract some pretty sulphurs to my Cassia, the plant is about 4' tall, but I see Sulphurs all the time. Maybe they don't think it's big enough.
I don't know why most of the Luna cats died, they seem to be just like any other cat, they eat and they poop. That's about it! lol
I take it Cloudless Sulphur cats change color depending on what they are eating? I've seen green ones but not the lovely yellow one shown at the beginning of this thread. Way cool!!!
I'll be heading to Glynco for a week next month and I remember seeing lots of sweetgum trees within the academy compound years ago. Am going to spend my free time hiking around looking for Luna cats!!! Hope to get some photos if the weather and time permits. Won't bring any home as they are not native to south Texas. Will try to take photos of Georgia's butterflies while I'm there.
~ Cat
Yep Cat you got it! Sulphurs do camo. It is so cool! I was captivated by this years ago.. Now ya know why I'm so pumped about getting them this year. Long time coming!
Deb
Guess what Rox and all?
Sitting out there watching my green C.less Sulphurs today I looked up to see some of the blooms has opened on the Cassia alata. Had an idea to cut a bloom off and feed it to the cats to see if it would make them turn yellow and how fast that would take place.
Setting one of the cats down on the bloom after I inserted it into the wetfoam inside the cage..only moments after it began eating the bloom the cat was turning yellow. Then the other cats gravitated and started changing too.
Here is the one that ate first and then crawled off to let the others have a go and to rest>
Here is one almost full and another just starting to eat the flowers together side by side>
More eating and crawling over to the bloom..
Here is a greenie smacking it's mandibles heading toward the bloom>
Found 2 more in 1st instar on the C. alata
Looked up as the female was coming in for another visit.. First she stopped at the Flame Acanthus for a drink>
I thought she would use the alata again, but this time she moved on to the C. privit and began laying eggs on it>
Found 4 eggs after that... I will look for more later.
Brushing past the Amorpha I saw there was still a couple more occupied nests with Silver Spotted Skippers in them. This nest is a duplex, lol.>
I had given the Tersa SM some more Penta last night, and this morning it had decided to go subterranian and pupate...Hopefully the next pics of it will be a pupa. I will dig into it in a few days and see what's there..
:-D
Wow, deb, that's really cool they change color, chameleon like! Do they just do 2 colors......can you try pink, purple, white...just do the entire color wheel okay? Inquiring minds want to know! lol
I bet it was a Tersa cat that munched on my Pentas, I would love to find that cocoon.
You are what you eat indeed!!! Great picture!
Such cool shots of the two different colored cats Deb. Thanks so much for sharing those. And I must say I love the two skippers in the duplex. That is too cute. I was hoping someone would share a pic of their cat with the "head that falls off". LOL. I got what I wanted. Thanks so much. You have some very interesting guests to say the least.
Leslie
I found another Queen today and put it in with the smaller one when I noticed that it had been busy. I think it would be going from the 3rd instart to the 4th, but not at all sure of that. But notice the previous covering and the head!
Yes head! Got to be!
Thx Roxanne and Leslie, The timing of this thread was perfect for testing that one out, lol.
and Rox~ When you said "something eating ..penta" up this thread, I thought it might be a Tersa also, bc of the one that I found and caged. It wasn't noticable until it got pretty big, they will blend in and hide well during the day, mostly eating at night. If they are in the garden they can hide a lot of places. I have several red pentas toward the back in the ground, and notice bites out of it too, but didn't spot any Tersas. It was the potted one on the deck that worked in getting this one. That's where I found it, no dirt or other plants to sleep in nearby.
The cat was on the stem a noticably half eaten Penta plant, on the deck.
Oh Sheila ! Those queens are so special, so glad you're getting them!!
:-)
Hey Fly - can't sleep......time and time again, when my pentas are devoured, it's a sphinx moth. Seems like every year for the past 4 and I actually catch the bugger! I just let him do his thing and replant the pentas. Look towards the dirt.
That's it Kristi! To the dirt they go!
Well, The Sulphurs morphed overnight, and I found more eggs to add to the second clutch today. Now they're all safe inside their wee chrysalids. whew!
Two more cloudless sulphurs found on c. alata>
I looked all around in the soil for him and no luck. I just want to find him to keep him safe, but it looks like he's on his own.
deb, what a pretty little chrysalis! How big is your Cassia? Do you take it in during the winter or does it die down to the roots and come back?
Rox~ I have to plant a new one every year. Tried everything to keep one, except bringing in.. No real room for it.
This year it got huge fast, what with all the rain. It's about 8' tall and has several candleabras forming buds that I can see now. I have waited so long to get one to grow like this. It's so about time!
Here's one of the candleabras.
Those cassia are so beautiful. Wish I could grow them here. And to have those lovely cats. Oh well....
Leslie
This senna was planted in April. 'Scuse the mess.....I can't handle the heat right now. All those MW's just came out of the BF cage. They're trying to grow back!
Hey Kristi! It looks great! The Cassia is so straight and tall, amazing.. (and, what mess???) Mine always spread out wide with many candleabras. It is very interresting to see the different form of growth..
Leslie~ If you want to grow one next year it should work. Of course they are annuals in our part of TX, but sure worth it. For W TX you'd just have to prepare the ground well and deep putting in a lot of compost and good fluffy soil, then you;d just need to keep it watered really well in full sun. I bet you'll get sulphurs too! Keep trying... I'll help ya any way I can. Honest!
Here is the newest batch of Black STs, I just caged up today. Cardinal had his eye on them..lol! (I pretended like I didn't see the fat one he snatched yesterday.) Besides, I do have to reward occasionally them for cleaning up all the webworms.
Well, how is this for a cutesie guy, the Silver spotted Skipper cat, found on Amorpha fruticosa,
too funny.
Wow, K, your cassia is huge!
deb, the webworms ARE the reward! lol
Josephine, those cats are so funny and cute!
Sheila, that head is gross!
I may just try that Deb. Will have to order one of course because I would not be able to buy one here I bet. And I will probably need your help, I always need help. Any tips on the best place to purchase one and at what time of the year?
And Frostweed I have to say I think that is my favorite cat. He is tooo cute.
Leslieg
Fly, the Luna cats are adorable! Sorry you lost so many...but how is this last fella? Several years ago I tried to raise some Cecropia moth cats sent by a friend in Ohio. They didn't survive either. I got one pic of the last one. It's SO CUTE! They get huge tho, which could have freaked me out. lol
That's one funky, but cute cat too Josephine!
Now that is a cool one Konkrete. What is that?
Leslie
I see what ya mean Paige! The Cecropia cat IS gnarley, (but beautiful).
Leslie, not a problem! I'd love to help with your Cassia next year. Mark it on your calender to check back with me in March. I hope to start some early.
:-D
Leslie, it's a Cecropia moth cat. Check out this link I found! It's got great pics and you can see the whole life cyle.
http://www.wormspit.com/cecropia.htm
Will do Deb. And actually when I was at the nursery today picking up that last passion flower vine I saw what looked very much like your plant/tree. Of course it was not marked but oh they were pretty. But I knew it was too late in the year to do anything with it now. So I will check back with you in March and see if I can find one then. I don't know why they sell stuff here at the end of August when it is not a perennial and has no way of coming back. I guess some people keep them inside I don't know.
And thanks for the link and info Konkrete. Again that is one cool cat. All of these cats have been cool. Great thread everyone.
Leslie