DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 16

Linda,

Do ya'll get lots of Texas Powdered Skippers there? I see maybe only a handful a year out here. Hope you raise that catepillar :o)


Mellie...you're stealing my thunder :o) Lucky you for photographing those ZSTs mating. They have such awesome markings...gotta love that red, black and white!!! You need to track down the mating butterfly post and add your photos there too.

Here's the link:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/649359/

I also saw several Sickle Winged Skipper caterpillars on the native colima (prickly lime ash) trees. Here's one of the bigger caterpillars.
~ Cat

This message was edited Sep 3, 2007 2:07 PM

I guess the odd-colored egg was an older one because it hatched! This morning I have two little guys running around the cage. One is the ZST I assume, and the other one is either a Gulf Frit or Zebra Longwing. I'm hoping for ZLW and I think it might be judging from when I brought it in and where it was laid. I still have three more eggs that I'm pretty sure are Gulf Frits. This time I've got them on p. incarnata. By the way, whoever had the wet floral foam idea, I have to give you props. I picked some up at the craft store this weekend and I'm already putting it to good use.

Cat, there's a whole thread about it?! Hmmm...gotta check that out when I'm done typing. I do love the colors on the ZSTs. My pawpaws are still growing and several have real leaves poking out. There's one that still has the seed pod on it - I hope it falls off eventually! I can't wait to raise the little fellas. Maybe it isn't as obvious in my pic, but one of the ZSTs was more yellowish while the other was more pure white. It made me wonder if it was an age thing or if that was one way to tell the gender. They usually fly by so fast I'm just glad to see one.

Melanie

Cat, I don't really know how many TPS I get here. There's so many skippers that come here and most I don't even try to ID them. From the way that one looks with its wings folded, I'm sure I probably couldn't ID it that way...it would have to spread its wings...then I'd know it. I just brought in another of those cats. I think there's two different caterpillars eating those bushes. One looks like inchworms, then there's these kind. It's so nice having a habitat in your yard. I can't imagine why people want those sterile expanses of lawn and run-of-the-mill shrubs. Boooo-ring! I want my property teeming with life.

These two sulphurs came out this morning. They held still for 1 second (photo op) and then they never stopped. They are hyper right from the beginning, no wonder they are so hard to get close to.

chris

This one also came out this morning. He was one of the small ones that I was worried about. I thought it was way to young to go into his chrysallis.

Has anyone ever seen black wings on a Sulphur??
The chrysallis kinda turned black and I thought he was a gonner but the black was actually on his wings.

wrong pic..this one is the black

Ok, now this is the weirdest part...it was so tired from me blowing on it to make the wings open, that when I put it outside on a flower, it wasnt interested. I waited 10 min. and then went and got it and put it on the cassia where it was born...It INSTANTLY layed an egg!!
Is it possible that they dont need a male?
The first egg she layed was an orangy color, the next couple were white. Then she started to fly around.

Hmmmm, that is strange, Icf. I have never heard of that. Maybe someone else will know.

Here's my 1 baby of the day. I have about 15 more of them to go. lol : )
~Lucy

I just noticed that that would have been a good photo if the BF itself wasn't alittle blurred. It shows what they eat, a young cat, and part of the chrysalis to the left, and the BF.
: )
~Lucy

Beautiful Lucy! You might step back a couple feet to focus. That looks like my pics when I'm too close. Otherwise it has all the ingredients there,... very cool!

Chris.. Seems you have a mixture of Cloudless and Orange Sulphurs
Here is a pic of the Orange Sulphur> Yours is a male.
http://www.dallasbutterflies.com/Butterflies/html/eurytheme.html
http://www.dallasbutterflies.com/ home page of the site..
I think it's a pretty good one for IDing. Sulphurs can be hard, but Dale gives many views, and other 3 stages where available.

Two more Giant STs eclosed this morning. One flew away fairly soon, but this one stayed a very long time.

Mellie, Congrats on the new babies, awwe!!

Linda, I feel exactly the same as you about habitat. It is such a wonderland when you provide a chemical free haven for the critters. The migrating birds are begining to zero in on this place too. I am seeing a few of my old friends today. They love all the insects here. I love the way it brings the yard to life!


The two Brazilian Skippers eclosed today.. I saw this one squirming out of the end of the rolled up canna leaf>

Talk about friendly... It must have imprinted, (lol).. because it wouldn't let go of me. I had my hands full, watching GST2 come out of it's chrysalis, so I called Ben to hold it for me..

Face to face...

I thought I would look at the other BrSkip chrysalis to see how it looked, and sure enough, it had turned brown and you could see the skipper through the transparant casing. This one was very lively! I got a 1 minute movie of it eclosing too.

I unrolled the leaf and creased it gently so it would stay open.

Wish we could upload short movies in here...

This is right after it came out.

I really enjoyed this experience.. These Brazilian Skippers are so beautiful. It looks like inlaid mother of pearl on the wings.. He sat on the zinnia for a very long time.

Right next to the Giant ST for about an hour... With Gulf Fritillaries, Tiger STs, Hummers, Warblers, and lots of different things flying all around. What a place!

Congrats on the Brazilian Skippers!!! I have numerous large cats rolled up in the canna leaves but none have gone into the chrysalis stage yet. We've had quite a good dousing of rain each day...so not sure how that affects them. Still dozens and dozens of eggs on the canna leaves too. A whole bunch hatched on Sunday...tiny little first instars are hard to see!!!

~ Cat

Deb - Love the face-to-face of the Skipper and Ben! That's just the cutest!

I was busy making another 12' X 4' section to the new patio, so no time and then too tired to bother afterwards. I did notice a skipper all over some of my blooming MGs this morning. They must have lots of nectar! The skipper kept coming back again and again to hit all the blooms! Pretty cool! And of course..... I took photos of the blooms and then put my camera in the house and came back out to mark the blooms and there the Skipper was!!! Murphy's Law!!! (Sheesh!)

icf520 - I have never heard of a female laying eggs right after eclosing and if she did they won't be viable because they do have to mate first. That's really weird!

I feel like I need a microscope attachment for my camera! My suspected ZST cat was sitting still for a while, but he recently started moving around again. Some of the other eggs are changing from light green to that kind of copper color, so I guess that's normal. Here he is exploring a pawpaw leaf...

And here is my possible ZLW or Gulf Frit. Either way, this one has been pretty active . They're so cute when they're this small; sometimes I can't tell which end is their head. I get a headache if I stare at them too much though. They're so tiny, it's hard to believe they could ever be a butterfly someday.

Cute photos, Mellie! LOL about staring at them and getting a headache. That happens to me sometimes too! :-D

Thanks! Dad was watching me yell at the ZST cat because it wasn't moving for a while and I was getting worried. He said I work them too hard and need to let them relax, LOL! I can't wait until it becomes bigger; I saw a ZST cat one time in the preserve and it was almost full grown. Such a pretty green color and the little mouth on it was just too cute. When my pawpaws get bigger hopefully I'll have swarms of ZSTs! My pawpaw seedlings are still doing well; I'm watching them closely so I transplant them before their roots get too big. They're a very pretty plant anyway, and I gotta love anything that can take 100% Florida sun.

Melanie

I meant to say somethng like that about the Sulphur laying eggs before coupling..(Sorry Chris). Absolutly impossible, lol!

It must have been small drops of fluid they lose after they eclose. The eggs would definatly need fertilization.. Besides all that, the Orange Sulphur it was a male.

I think it is so cool that you got 2 kinds of them Chris! Lucky!!
I would be extatic!

Either this guy was trying to scope out chicks, or he was sincerely hungry, because he spent most of the day in my "nectaring garden..."

The Tigers are always a welcome sight, I never get tired of seeing them.

Nor these Monarch guys.. And neither can resist a bright purple or red buddleija.. oh heck, they don't care what color it is, they just love it. DH had me buy every color I could this year. He didn't have to twist my arm. Only one didn't make it.

We don't get Tigers this far south...snifffffff!

Ah...but got home from a work a while ago and went to check the cages. As I was adding a fresh guava leaf for a last instar Guava Skipper cat I noticed a White-Striped Longtail Skipper had eclosed. I quickly closed the cage before it got out!!! It's much too late to release it and I do want to take photos of it before I release it.

I can hardly wait until daylight so I can see that bugger!!! It's my first WSTL skipper :o) Will post photos in the morning.

~ Cat

Cori (my daughter) has been such a nature lover since the beginning of her existence. She has always questioned the life cycle of things, and appreciated the beauty around her -- I think that's why she's been able to hold a Hummingbird Moth, and today, she had this gorgeous ETS follow her around the garden. I think there are certain gifted people on this earth, and she would be one of them. Here's a picture of her trying to get the ETS to climb on her hand today....

Very sweet Lily!

Hey Cat! Don't frget to look up this thread. The Brazilian Skippers eclosed today. Oy was the coolest thing!

Night all!

Felicia - Cori should be nicknamed the Butterfly Whisper! :-) I think her and Rod have that "special" touch with butterflies! ;-)

And don't forget Deb's Ben. He has a way with the cats and bfs too! You guys are rasing more that butterflies, you are raising a new generation of caretakers of mother nature! Good job!

I think it was the extra fluid that the sulphur was getting rid of. It dried up. It just looked so weird the way she bent her body the same way to lay the eggs. I guess the last bit of fluid was orangy then whitish.

I am glad that it was an Orange sulphur instead of something wrong with a cloudless Sulphur.
This is becomming very confusing. Thanks all of you for being here, because I would never know all these different butterflies.

Is there something special ya have to do to keep Gulf Frits happy? Do they prefer the leaf, or vine, or hangy tendril things.
4 0f 6 have just stopped eating dried up and died.

chris

Deb...

Yes...I saw your post and photos...and I commented about 15 posts above this one :o) Aren't those just soooooooooo cool. That green sheen and inlaid mother of pearl look describes them perfectly!!! I do so love those big skippers.

I checked on the cannas this morning...lots of skippers...gobs and gobs of first instars...all those eggs hatched at the same time :o) But alas, I will be going out of state for a week so will leave them all on the plants.

Good news...my White-Striped Longtail Skipper eclosed yesterday while I was at work. It was much too dark to released when I got home last night so I released it this morning. Dratted bugger would never open it's wings. I watched for about an hour hoping it would open them to absorb the warmth of the sun but no such luck. Oh well, never have seen them perched with open wings ever...so guess I was wishing on a distant star.

Here's the new releasee :o)

~ Cat

Wow! I see why they called him a Long-tail! I've never seen one of those. I just love this thread. Gooder than a picture book! LOL

Oh wow Cat!! What a beautiful White striped long tail Skipper!! I have never seen the long tails here at all, so sharing that with you is a real treat.. It is a great trade for what we get here and can share with you. 2007 has been my year for falling in love with skippers. :-)

..and duh.. sorry I missed your nice post about my lil skippers, rofl! I was trying to get everything in before bed and I was pretty worn out and more visually challenged than normal. :-o

I started a new 'daily picture book" thread! (For easier page loading.)
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http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/767695/

:-S