DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 19

Carried forward from: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/770313/

and ........

Thanks James for starting the new page. The other one was getting long. I love that first pic so much, getting to see the close up of the Monarch. Love those white spots on the black. Beautiful. I just get tickled daily that you get so many great butterflies in your garden.

Leslie

Well since I am the only one responding so far I wish I had more to say. My hummer is still taking full advantage of my flowers but still no butterflies yet. I checked my milkweed yesterday and found three more tiny baby Monarch cats. That brings me up to 9, 6 little ones and three tiny ones. They are the cutest things. I never, ever see the Monarch on the plant but I work during the day so I probably miss it. By the time I get out to the garden to enjoy it, it is usually around dusk and I guess that is too late for BF's. Although Monday when I released my last GF there were three or four other BF's flying around that day. Maybe they were waiting on my newest addition to get there so they could mate. I hope so. I never get close enough to them though to tell what they are. Everytime I get close they take off. Will keep everyone posted on my little cats. I feel like I did pretty good with the GF's. I did lose about four of them which was heartbreaking but released 6 so I don't know if those are good numbers or not. I hope to do better with the Monarchs as I have a little more experience and am not quite so nervous. Have a great day everyone and hope there is more to read about when I get home tonight.

Leslie

Very pretty, James. :) The flutterbyes certainly love your garden!

Leslie, sounds like you did great with your GF's. :) And I bet it was a little bittersweet to release your last one. But now, you have the awesome Monarchs to take care of! :)

Not much going on here in Indiana in the butterfly world. Snakes and brugs are different stories, but those are best left for other forums. LOL!! I did have one BST pupate on Monday, so that makes 4 in chrysalises, and 7 happy, healthy cats left. Luckily, I have not run out of food, so that's a good thing. It'll be interesting to see if these 4 guys eclose. If they do, three of them will eclose next week. Luckily, I don't have to worry about them freezing any time soon because we're still close to 90 degrees here.

Hope everyone has a great day!! And, it's almost Friday!!

I don't have any more Monarch cats in cages, just waiting on several crystalids to eclose. My milkweed in the garden is finally leafing out again. Seeing fewer Monarchs flying around lately. I'm not ready for them to leave just yet. One things for sure, I'll have double the milkweed planted by the time spring comes around again.

Deborah

I have had a male and female monarch hanging around the milkweed the last couple of days ........ have not checked for cats though ........I saw someones post that said that the bf's might be able to judge how most host plant is available and if not enough is there that they may not lay eggs .......... huh ........... may be something to that....

james t

James, I read somewhere that if the Monarchs are migrating, they will not mate until they get to their destination because they must preserve all the energy they can. I thought that was pretty interesting.

WOW ........ what a busy morning in the milkweed patch this morning!!

At one time there were 5 either Monarch and Queen bf's flying around and hanging out on the nectar of the Monarch!!

I do know that the Queens have been busy laying eggs as I saw one teeny lil' Queen cat this morning!!

some pics from this morning!!

another .........

It seems that ome of the Monarchs migrating into this area of Texas stop and mate and lay eggs. Others don't stop except to nectar and rest, then move on. This year....so many are laying eggs here that I wonder if there's a rumor that they closed down the border. I wish I were only seeing the numbers of Monarchs James is seeing. I'm just not prepared to raise hundreds of little cats!

The Imperial Moth cats have hatched. Here's some just hatched from that big cluster.

And here's one of them that's been out a while.

duplicate, oops!

:-)

This message was edited Sep 21, 2007 6:13 AM

Thank you James!!! Way to start out page 19, nice pics!
Waves @ Leslie and Felicia! o/~
What a cool cat ya have there Linda! What about those branch like spikes? Glad you gave us a look see, thanks!

There has been a lot of egg laying here y'all. There's a few more weeks of butterflies, I'd say. Might be the last wave of ovipositing for them. Monarch will begin to just fly through in about 2 -3 weeks.. The ones hatching now should catch up with them.
I found a couple cats today, very small ones. There are more of them surely! I noticed less predators out there today for some reason, maybe they will make it until I can find the first.
A BST laid eggs on some parsley yesterday too. sulphurs are still coming too.

Just an update for people south of me, if it helps, :-)

The cool birds are starting to show up too!

debnes

Hey debnes. Glad you are still getting some good BF's. James as always has the best luck with them. So cool to have a pic of a Monarch and Queen side by side almost on your plants. You are the man James.

Linda that cat sure has a big head. Not to be rude. He is really too cool. First one of his kind I have seen on here. But he does have a big head. Love the pic of them coming out of their eggs.

Found one more Monarch cat today and brought him in. I have 10 now. One is getting pretty darned big. Two are almost too tiny to see, two are very little, and the rest are between tiny and medium. It is amazing how in one night, and I know for sure it is one night cuz I took pics of them last night and they were so different, how fast their filaments grow (learned that word in a book just today, lol). Yesterday I could barely get a good pic showing the filments and today they are swinging around their heads. I bet they grew 1/4 of an inch overnight. It is truly amazing. They are soo cool. I am really having fun with them. I kind of want to find more every time I go outside but I do not want to get overwhelmed. I would hate to have to drive all the way to James' house to get some of his milkweed. LOL.

Glad to know you are still getting warm weather Indy, not because we like hot weather but so that your cats have more of a chance to eclose before fall. I really hope that happens for you. I am really loving the weather here, staying in the 80's and it seems like the plants are so much different just with about 10 degree cooler weather. They are all blooming like crazy and not wilting at the end of the day. We have not had rain in awhile but they are really perking up with this cooler weather.

Have a great night everyone and a greater day tomorrow.

Leslie

Filaments? I had to look that one up, Leslie. Thank you for encouraging me to do some more research. So that's what those double black antennae/tentacle looking things are called! Never knew. You can make a loud sound, like clapping your hands, and those things will move in response.

My milkweed and the cuttings I planted are leafing! Ya! Good thing too; there are eggs on some of them. I guess I'll be filling up my cages with cats real soon.

My Herclule's Club doesn't have anymore leaves on it. It was just a seedling when I planted it. I hope its not dead. I'm having a terrible time keeping seedling trees alive. Maybe, (fingers crossed) a TST cat eat them all.

ooohhhhh and somebody tell me what this guy is .............. I am pretty darn sure that he is not a butterfly friend :0(

I think you are right, James, he may not be a friend to our bf's.

James, I had bugs that look like that and they were ID as leaf footed bugs. Yours look like the same family.

chris

Do you know if they'll cats, Chris?

are they what people on here call assassin bugs? ..........or .........as also known enemies of our beloved cats and butterflies?

here is another pic of this guy .......

james t

James, that looks like a Milkweed Assassin bug to me, and they are predators and meat eaters.....they will kill cats and anything they can catch. And when you try to get rid off them, they will hide under the leaf....sneaky little buggers.

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/assassin_2.html


Chris, the Leaf-footed bugs have back legs that get wide, like a leaf.

Oh dear, and he looks like he's on James' A. curassavica too. I'll be looking closely, and under leaves, for these nasty guys.,

......... YES HE WAS ........... and probably still is ......... I am going to have me a hunting expedition when I get home this afternoon ........ I am going to look things over really closely..

What can be done about these predators?

Leslie,
you may not want any of my milkweed for the moment ... it looks like it has assassin bugs in it : (

This message was edited Sep 21, 2007 9:58 AM

By looking on that site I believe that it would be a milkweed assassin bug ...... egads !!

I know, they are out there.....hunting their next meal!


And, James, your post #3997136 has webbing, maybe from the cats, but maybe from those little green spiders that will eat the cats. I don't know if they can take down an adult butterfly, but those guys have to go....if you like spiders, just move them far away. At least they don't have wings like the assassins do.


Oh forgot earlier.......great pics!

ooohhhh so there are spiders too ????? ........I saw the webs on the milkweed ........what do they look like? ............ and I guess that they eat the small cats?

No wonder I haven't had any cats lately ..... I'm infested with predators :0 (

Okay James, I will take a raincheck on your milkweed for now. Hope you get rid of all of your pests. I have seen some pretty nasty looking pics on here of spiders eating a butterfly. Not pretty and very sad. I don't have those types of spiders I don't think but I will have to keep a closer eye out just in case.

And no problem Cordele, I just happened to be looking up the Monarch in a book and found out that is what those were. I just had to sound smart for a change. lol. Those "filaments" are crazy looking.

Leslie

They're tiny, some are the crab spiders, they look crabby.
These are the ones I always find on the millkweed:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/2757/

Don't worry James, it's a sad day when we find out we are 'infested'......lol We have all been there.

well ........ after looking at the page ....... I have seen those out there as well ........ I have been smushing these guys everytime i see one !!!

It is funny ........ what is considered to be a "beneficial" or "good" bug to have around for the non-butterfly gardener is a peril to us who choose to be butterfly gardeners/farmers..........

* CAUTION: this article may be disturbing to some*
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficial6_milkweed_assassin_bug.htm

just a newbie observation ....... makes sense though ......... we actually grow stuff for caterpillars to chew down!!

;0)

This message was edited Sep 21, 2007 3:14 PM

This message was edited Sep 21, 2007 3:19 PM

I cant believe how many bugs look similar. Sorry about the wrong ID. I forgot about the flat leaf like back legs. I dont think I have had any assasin bugs yet but I did smack down a red wasp when it was munching on one of the medium to big size monarch cats.
I do think I lose most of my outside cats to chameleons.
Does anyone have a picture of the paper wasps that everyone keeps talking about?

chris

Yep folks! It's life in the wild.. Predators everywhere! lol I have found that my birdies like to eat many of those bugs.. And the birds being here kinda keeps down the population of the worst of the "benificial" bugs. (Was that an oxymoron??) Oh well.
Of course I have to cage the cats I can find. Lots of them live and fly away. So goes the circle.

I love it!

A couple more sulphurs eclosed today. One of them had a wrinkle, the chrysalis casing was a little stuck on the wing, but I think its going to be alright.

This one was perfect, but sat on the one of patio colancho plants for a while just like wrinklewing..

Hey all, and especially Linda, if you're here ;-)
I received the Plantain seeds from Shady Oaks. I sent the SASE about a month ago. The pkg has about 25 seeds, but they are prolific seeders

To get your free seed send a SASE (regular size no bubbles necessary)
To>
Shady Oaks Butterfly Farm
12876 SW CR 231
Brooker , FL 32622

Their site is: http://butterfliesetc.com/hostplants.php

A Buckeye! Just eclosed....the cat I brought home was well worth it! And that's the chrysalis of the second Buckeye cat right by it.

Pretty baby you have there Linda! Nice Sulphurs too Deb, maybe next year my Cassia you gave me will draw some cats.

I am getting more Monarch eggs /cats now. I found one in about the 4th instar on the ground one day, took him in and fed it, it made a chrysalis even. But then a couple days later I saw dark spots and these pupa casing in the bottom of the cage. Is it the wasp that uses them to deposit their eggs in? What ever it is, it is a reason for me to catch them as eggs or first instars and bring them in to protect them.

todays activity in the garden!!

don't know what this bf is ........... but he/she sure is beautiful ....