DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 19

Pretty shots!! I think it is a Pipevine Swallowtail. See what you think, someone else can confirm shortly. I have only seen one myself.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/46/

I thought that it was maybe a swallowtail after seeing the Giant Swallowtail here lately ....... the Giant was here today as well ....... but did not get a pic ........ it was so wild ....taking pics of it then this monarch flies in and commences to laying eggs ....... I was going crazy!!

and then ................(drun roll).......tada !!

Wow James. That BF is a beauty. How lucky for you. And now more eggs. Hoping you got rid of your predators.

Since I could not drive to your house James and get some of your milkweed I broke down and bought another plant today. I was just really paranoid about not having enough to feed those piggy Monarch cats. The plant was on sale also as they were trying to get rid of it. So I think now I am comfortable with having enough leaves to get the babies through. Of course I am also hoping a Monarch might find the new plant and bless it with some babies. I did get to see a Monarch today in the garden. Stayed on the buddelia and then flew off. Never even looked at the milkweed so maybe it was a boy. Anyway, I was thrilled just getting to see him/her.

Leslie

Sheila, that looks like the work of the dreaded Tachinid Fly. I assume you destroyed them. Poor thing, it's cruel to have the cats live that long and then the larvae destroys the chrysalis.
http://www.mlmp.org/results/DeathMilkweed/results_DeathMilkweedTachinid.asp
James, that looks like a Pipevine Swallowtail to me also.
And Leslie, I am SO wishing you lived closer...I could give you all the eggs or first instar cats you'd want. Today I was having trouble finding leaves for my Queen and Monarch cats. Mainly, because so many of the leaves I checked had eggs or tiny cats on them for me to bring in...I keep hoping every day the egg-laying Monarchs and Queens will be gone. I just have so little foliage left and they are still laying eggs. I've never seen it like this before. Strangely enough, I don't see much Antelope Horn in the wild anymore. Most of it is dormant, I guess, or mowed down. That's the only reason I can see why so many butterflies keep laying eggs on my milkweed.

Leslie,

I did a thorough inspection of the milkweed ....... killed probably at least 5 assassins and at least 3 spiders from the milkweed ........ am going back in the morning and do another check ......... I have several queen and monarch cats out there right now as well........

Linda,

I have a question ........I posted it on a new thead today as well ......... when you put the milkweed in the cage with the cats ........ how do you keep it from shriveling up ..... or do you?

here is the link to the other thread .........
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/773444/

This message was edited Sep 22, 2007 7:37 PM

This message was edited Sep 22, 2007 7:44 PM

more pics from today ..........

and another !!!!!

Gorgeous Pipevine, James! I love the blue in that one. You're doing an awesome job!!

I'm so sorry, Sheila. :( I know that must be heart breaking to see something like that happen.

Meanwhile, in Indiana, it was a day for Monarchs....

.... Viceroys .....

.... bonding with cats ..... (yes, it pooped in Cori's hand twice LOL!!) ... and ...

ok, guess ya'll would actually like to see Cori... oh, and this cat responded to Cori every time she spoke by raising its head towards her ....

.... and it was also a day to realize that we will probably have another eclosure tomorrow morning...

I hope everyone is having a tremendous weekend!!

Cori is adorable :-).

Congrats Linda!! Love your buckeye so does Ben here.
I hope everyone got the info on the free seeds up there in http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=4003702
Buckeyes are widespread. But the plantain is a host or several different butterflies.
My Agailins is blooming!!!! (another host plant or Buckeye)

Great pics James.. Nice shots of the Pipevine ST. I raised a couple dozen this year, but haven't seen many lately at all. The cats are so cool. Good Monarch egg shots too.

Yep Sheila the dreaded Tachnid.. :- bummage!



This message was edited Sep 23, 2007 7:09 AM

Thanks Debnes!

Well, when I woke up a few minutes ago, checked on the cats and such, and we have a new butterfly. It's just hanging around drying its wings now. :) Will post pictures later.

Hope everyone has an awesome day!

Linda,

Great moth cat photos and lovely Buckeye!!! I still haven't made the time to scour the back fields for buckeye cats...and I see them flying around every time I'm out there. I can only imagine how vibrant those colors are when they first eclose.

Great photos everyone. Good to see that monarch ovipositing James. Bad bug in that other photo. There seems to be a mass emergence of assassin and cinch bugs since we got all that rain a few weeks ago. I carry a small cup with insectide when I go check on my plants and knock them into the cup when I come across those bad bugs.

That photo above the bad bug is some kind of duskywing skipper. Not sure what species you have there.

Indi...it's always cute to see cats wiggle around and reach up. I think they are responding our breath...most likely the warmth of air brushing across their body. Some can get quite acrobatic and reach up quite a ways :o)

~ Cat

Linda, I feel your pain. That is why I had to go out and buy another plant and I don't have near the eggs and cats you have but I cannot stand the thought of running out of leaves. I don't know what to tell you. If there is any way I can help I gladly will.

Indy, great shots and Cori is quite the cutie. Love the freckles. I remember as a kid having freckles (actually I still do) and being so embarassed by them. I don't have a clue now why I was embarassed, I guess someone made fun of me at some time or another. But they are so darling and she will appreciated them more when she gets older and does not have to wear much makeup because the freckles are giving her so much color. She is a beauty as is your little cat. Great to hear you had another successful eclosure.

James, I tried to answer your milkweed problem on the other thread. Not sure I helped that much though.

I am having a lot of fun with my Monarch cats. Especially first thing in the morning when I go in to check on them and talk their heads just bounce up and down. Again, I don't think they like the sound of my voice but hopefully they will get use to it.

Have a great Sunday everyone.

Leslie

Thank you, Leslie. Yeah, Cori absolutely hated her freckles at first, now she's dealing with them -- just as I've had to all my life, too. :)

Glad you're having so much fun with your Monarch cats, Leslie. And, I'm sure they do like the sound of your voice, because you're the "momma." :)

I'm starting to run low on my parsley, so these guys need to pupate real soon!! I've got 3 or 4 that are close, but the other 4 kinda worry me. Guess I need to buy some organic stuff at the store.

Ok, meet "Pinkie." We're guessing she probably eclosed around 7:00 - 7:30 this morning. In a bit, we'll release her. So both butterflies we've raised have been girls. :)

James, I try, but can't always keep the leaves fresh. I try to keep the milkweed watered (and occasionally fertilized to encourage more leaves) well during the "season". I collect early morning and late evening when possible...they do best a couple of hours after watering, ideally. I just stick the stems into water right away and check the water level often in my little containers I use. Others use floral foam. If a leaf is too bad and the cat is tiny, I sometimes carefully cut a piece around the tiny cat and put the piece on a fresh leaf (positioning it so hopefully the piece won't fall off). Otherwise, I put the fresh leaf (or leaves) next to the old one and hope the cat will move over. I sometimes move larger cats by hand (have to clean out the cage anyway) but you have to be really careful. If you rip the cat off a surface, the little "feet" are holding on for life and may be injured. And a cat doing an instar should be left alone…often it will wander away from the food…if disturbed during a critical time of the instar process, it may not even survive. I have a few links about raising cats, take whatever ideas you think is practical and remember milkweed varies....I had to laugh about one comment…I think maybe it was about a larger cat...said it can eat a whole leaf in 3 or 4 hours or something...obviously, about a very big-leaf milkweed, not my usual Mexican Milkweed leaves, whose leaf might last maybe 5 minutes in the path of a big hungry 5th instar Monarch cat. Actually, even with Mexican Milkweed, the leaf size varies and I have some kinds of plants with much bigger leaves than others.
http://eriesargonaut.net/blog/monarch_butterfly/
http://www.altapassfoundation.org/rearing_monarchs.htm
http://home.wi.rr.com/monarchraising/page8.htm
This is, of course, in addition to the FAQ info here, which you've probably read.

What are you using on the bad bugs Cat?

Oh, shoot! Debnes, you're right. Oops! Ok, both butterflies have been male. :)

I though my raising Eastern Black Swallowtails was over for the season. Caught this mama laying eggs as I looking out my sunroom window. Little did I know the fennel just under my window was a nursery for many cats and eggs.
Will these cats live off of parsley if I take them off the fennel and cage them to raise?

I just wanted to say that I'm pretty sure the Long-tailed Skipper(s) have started using a Purple Hyacinth Bean vine. I saw a LTS butterfly there around that vine the other day. It had lost its "tails" somehow. I saw the ragged edges where they had been torn, but it can still fly, just not as well. Anyway, there are a few eggs and cats on this PHB vine, which is blooming this time of year. All told, there is quite a population of these cats outside. I had to stop bringing those in because I have so many other cats to raise of various kinds and my large collection of cats is reaching a critical stage here. I'll just raise the LTS cats I already brought in.

Who knew the Zebra Longwing liked fennel flowers so much? There was two of them frolicking around today. Now, if only they would lay some eggs where I could notice them.

Sounds like a plan Linda :-D .. I have HBV this year, but it would be a fluke to get the LTSs.

Yep Deborah, You can feed the parsley, they should do just fine.

Project so far so good... One of our Bradfords split last week and we had to have it cut down. In the process displacing a baby mourning dove. I had it out in the bird feeding area, and noticed the large Eurasian Collard Doves kept on pecking at his wee head.. ganging up on it. :-. One or 2 more pecks and the baby would have been severely injured and dead y now.
So I have had it in a cage out there in the feeding area or a few days. It is eating well, growing fine, and getting plenty of water. We will see..

debnes

Deb...I use Off Mosquito repellant. Since my backyard has an abundance of skeeters...I usually spritz it on myself before I venture out to take photos. Have a bottle of it on my patio table and I squirt it into a small cup - filling it only about 1/4 deep. Good enough to kill off the cinch bugs when I drop them into it.

~ Cat

a Long- tailed Skipper on Mexican Clover, R. brasiliensis


This message was edited Sep 24, 2007 6:09 AM

A Gulf Fritillary on Mexican Clover.

This message was edited Sep 24, 2007 6:10 AM

cordeldeb, There are alot of cats in that photo. Good find.
Do you see any of the Zebra longwings by you?
I Love that longtail skipper.

chris

I'm thinking that the Zebra Longwings are laying eggs up in my darn tree...well, what I really mean is on the extensive P. caerulea vines that go way up in the tree, of course. I was watching one hovering all over that tree...and a couple of times it looked like it might be laying eggs. Darn! I looked as high up as I could get and found a few single eggs, but it's probably GF eggs. I just miss those ZL cats I had one year, that's all.

P. caerulea vines grows in trees? I didn't know where you are suppose to grow them. I'm getting some common kinds but I was going to grow mine on a fence. It's next to a pine tree that it could climb up it as well I guess.
I hope I get both Zebras and GF's to make it a home.

Meet "Frisky," our third successful butterfly out of 3. Whew!! Ok, how come we are only getting males here? Is it something in the Parsley???

Well, the vine was originally on the fence, but it grew up and went way up into an ash tree on one side and to a lesser extent to a cedar tree on the other side. I keep reminding myself it was my fault. I should have cut it back more long ago.

Moth or butterfly? It was enjoying some banana before I scared it. Then it let me pick it up.

chris

It kinda look hairy. Very pretty colors.

Very pretty Red Admiral. Cool that it let you pick it up -- the ones in my garden are usually pretty skittish. :)

This is picture I wanted to send....

Wow, I really thought it was gonna be a moth because it is so fuzzy. YEA!!! time for another host plant!

chris

Got any Nettle or False Nettle, Chris? I thought I had some growing wild around the pond but I can't remember where I first saw it. Maybe it died back, I don't know. I do see quite a few RA's though. I just haven't intentionally planted for them. They're finding what they need somewhere. Lovely picture. You must have the special touch. I can't seem to get them to let me pick them up.