I have pics now of one of the cats. These are on a legume vine that might be a variety of the yard-long beans and also they showed up on another legume bean vine, Rattlesnake Pole Bean. Some kind of skipper, right?
This message was edited Sep 11, 2007 8:33 PM
These are eggs that I just found on the Rattlesnake Pole Bean vine...they are getting more numerous. OMG!
This message was edited Sep 11, 2007 8:34 PM
Okay, I just noticed these yesterday...newly hatched cats are under little bitty pieces of a leaf they cut and bend over to hide in. This is also on the Rattlesnake Pole Bean vines.
Those little hidden critters are so cute LInda. The first one looks like a skipper to me but I am not the expert here. You are so lucky. Those are my favorite cats. They are so cute. But now those hiding under the leaves, that is too precious. Looks like you have a handful.
Leslie
Looks like some type of skipper to me too. They are the ones that cut the leaves into nest...whereas moth cats tend to just silk over the leaf. Blues and hairstreaks also use legumes but that doesn't look like any of those...and the eggs are too big as well.
So many skippers use legumes as larval hosts....time will tell as the caterpillars get bigger. Have you noticed any skippers flitting around your yard?
Luck you!!! I grew lima beans and scarlet runner beans earlier this year in the hopes of attracting gravid females but had no takers. Guess I should think about it again since the fall season is our best time of the year.
I have several pea vines growing waiting for the longtails.
Keep us updated!!!
~ Cat
I caught sight of a skipper with long tails laying eggs on one of the vines. Didn't get a real good look, but maybe Long-tailed Skipper...didn't seem like the white-striped one. But my book says pale yellow or green eggs for that one. I was thinking all these eggs were off-white but I looked at some in the sunlight and they do look kind of pale yellow.
Oh my, if they keep this up....I was wondering how I'd raise the ones that were already here with all the cats and eggs I already had. I don't have enough containers or anything. Sheesh!
This message was edited Sep 12, 2007 2:36 PM
Linda...go raid Wallyworld for those plastic Martha Stuart containers like I do :o) Drag out the hot cutting knife, hot glue and window mesh and get 'er done!!! :o)
~ Cat
Hey Linda, I was looking at my list and saw that the Lilac-Banded Longtail likes Phaseolus vulgaris...that's the Rattlesnake bean, right?
Some of the others, like: Long-tailed skipper and Eastern Tailed-Blue just said beans.
That's funny...I've seen Phaseolus vulgaris used with different kinds of cultivated beans...not sure. But I took a good look at one of the larger cats today and it's starting to look more like the Long-tailed Skipper cat. We'll see.
That's cool Linda! Thanks for giving me a peek at those leaves! I've yet to attract Skippers...."Legumes" is too broad a statement! It flips me out!!
Adrienne
The larger cats on the bean vines are getting to look more like the picture of a Long-tailed Skipper cat that is in my book. It even has some reddish-orange spots on the head.
One of the two cats (Texas Powdered Skipper I believe) using my mallow is pupating. In its leaf nest...that's a new one for me! It has its discarded skin and head capsule up there at the top. I had to open the leaf nest up to see it. I think the other one is going to pupate soon also. I read somewhere that that species is seen less often than it used to be, so I'm really hoping these make it.
Linda...
Do you have photos of the TPS cats? I thought you had posted them on another post but couldn't find them. Your TSP chrysalis looks like one I am baby sitting. I found a caterpillar on waltheria indica and it didn't look like a mallow scrub hairstreak cat...so I waited and watched. Here's a photo of the chrysalis it formed. Has the same dots like yours...hairy too...but mine has red eyes. It also preferred to stay inside a leaf nest as a caterpillar and formed the chrysalis inside a leaf nest as well.
~ Cat
This message was edited Sep 22, 2007 11:04 PM
Here's the unknown cat that was on the waltheria indica...I figured it was going to be a moth...until it formed that chrysalis instead of a cocoon.
~ Cat
Cat, this is the most recent pic I have before that one pupated. Your cat is quite a bit different! Mystery cat, huh?
Yep...big difference between our cats. Since mine had all that hair I'd figured a moth...but since it formed a light colored chrysalis...I've no idea! Guess time will tell :o)
Thanks for sharing the photo. Great for comparison.
~ Cat
My unknown eclosed today...it turned out to be a Turk's Cap skipper...a female. She refused to crawl onto my finger and flew out of the cage instead. Got a photo of her when she landed on the gutter drain piping.
~ Cat
Oooh how cool is that! I've a question maybe someone here could help me? I've seen green cats. like these on my brugs' leaves. And the more I'm aware of these little ones, the less I want to relocate them elsewhere, so I let them continue to munch on my brugs. But could they be similar cats. like those posted here.
Newbie at raising Cats~Kim.
