Debnes, sorry to hear you were so sick, glad a bf saved the day for you! What a beauty, thanks for the beautiful close up shots. Hope you are back to 100% very soon.
Cathy
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 31
Deb, I wondered where you had been. Sorry to hear you were sick, but I'm glad the butterflies are making you feel better. I'm also super excited to see what my Giant STs will look like in a few more weeks.
I put some butterfly brew out this afternoon. I'm hoping it will bring them in soon. Today all I saw was a yellow jacket, but it was really funny because all I could see was his little black and yellow booty shaking around as he was drinking. I have two logs with a trench cut out that I'm using. Dad rigged them for me and I hung one in an oak tree over my bromeliads. I'm going to try to find something to tie the other one to so that it hangs right in front of Mom's office window. She's got the bougainvillea in front of her which brings in a lot of butterflies, but I've been wanting to try the brew because I know it will bring us lots of different types of bfs.
Speaking of different kinds of bfs, I saw a Buckeye in my yard for the first time ever! I've seen them when I go hiking but never in my yard so I was really surprised. It landed on one of my bromeliads, and at first I thought it was a duskywing, but I followed it around and saw that it was a Buckeye. I couldn't get a good shot (they're skittish and the lizards were out in force today). The coloration seems a little darker - maybe a seasonal thing?
Melanie
I also found two more sulphurs on my cassia. I knew there was one out there, but I was waiting for it to get a little bigger. They're hard to take care of when they're so small. Also, my super fat Gulf Frit made his chrysalis today! Now, I only have to feed two of them.
By the way, yesterday when I was squealing over my Giant ST's red osmeterium, Dad looked over at me and asked, "Have you been drinking?" I told him no, I was just happy to have swallowtail caterpillars again.
Here's my fat sulphur!
AWW, Deb, so sorry you were sick. Glad you feel like living again. Those butterflies help, don't they.. and some fresh air too.
Hugs,
Elaine
Deb - Oh! And here I thought you were just running around in your new vehicle teaching others about Butterfly Gardening! :-) So sorry to hear how sick you are. Sending get well vibes and prayers to you! ~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~Get Well~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:
This message was edited Mar 5, 2008 9:27 PM
Glad it was short lived illness and you won't miss out on the BF Exhibit fun.
Means a lot to get all your "get wells". Thanks a bunch (((everybody)))!
Yesterday another GST eclosed. I believe I had one of each (m&f). Suppose they'll find each other? Still working on making the gender of this species, and so far it has to do with the size. The one the day before yesterday had a much larger abdomen.
My overwintering EBST's are eclosing weekly. This fellow awoke to be released on a daffodil this morning.
This picture shows the last group of cats I rescued in Oct to raise in cages. Most of these cats over wintered. The pic in the above post is one of these cats I released as an adult. Wonderful feeling I tell ya. What's exciting is to be able to release them with new spring blooms popping up everywhere.
Debnes, that GST is gorgeous!
Cordele, those little babie are so cute! I think dill and fennel provide the nicest host plant, it looks so ferny and comfie, I'd want to snuggle right in too.
Going to a Plant Festival this weekend, and hoping there's a bf plant vendor there. They have a bf garden at the site, so I'll bring my camera too.
Cathy
I forgot to post this pic of a battle scarred male yesterday, maybe he's one of the dueling pair I keep seeing.
He sure did like the milkweed though!
Cathy
Cathy, Don't tell me you have milkweed blooming already! Did your gardens bloom throughout the winter months?
Yes, the milkweeds pretty much went through the whole winter, except when I had the crop of cats that ate EVERY milkweed, flower and leaf! They are just starting to leaf out again. That bloom is from the milkweed plant that I bought when I thought I was going to run out of mw for the little buggers, and they didn't like it. I thought maybe it was overfertilized, so I just planted it in the bf garden for the nectar source. It has about 10 seed pods on it now, so I should be able to harvest a bunch more seeds. Do you need some A. curassavica seeds?
I'm so glad to hear you are taking care of MY Monarchs. Hopefully they'll decide to be mine if they'll travel on up Hwy 41 to my house! I have milkweed A curassavica seeds, Cathy. Thank you though. That reminds me, I'd better start some in the house if I'm going to be ready for any migrating up my way.
I didn't see hardly any Monarchs for about 2 weeks, then the males started showing up last week. I actually WAS thinking that they had already headed north to see you and Elaine in GA!
I'm only 3 blocks off of US41, maybe they saw your signs...
Hey, US 41 runs right through Lutz! It must be the butterfly corridor. Right now, I'm waiting for my sulphur in a sling to turn into a chrysalis. Mom got to see the first one do it and she's been making me crazy jealous ever since. I'll try to get some pictures if I can. It's all stormy here right now, but hopefully this weekend will be a little nicer.
Melanie
We're still waiting for some rain here, can hear thunder in the distance, so I have my fingers crossed!
I hope you can catch some phots of the Sulphur, that would be really cool!
Yes,, yes, they are on the way to Lizella, after they stop at Deborah's.. of course. Now, let me see what they like..
Elaine
Glad ya'll are getting rain..
Elaine
They must stay at my house long enough to lay some eggs!
OK,, well some can stop by to 'have a butterfly party' LOL
Elaine
What's rain? :o)
Our weather is freaky. It was in the 40's last night..or rather in the middle of the night. I pulled a midnight shift on the bridge and it was cooooooooold!!! Winds were gusting and they sent chills right through us. I can handle a few nights like that but am sure glad I don't work the Canadian border! Of course, when our Summers hit 100+ on a daily basis I'm whining for cold!
Has anyone received their American Butterflies magazine for Fall/Winter 2007? Jeff Glassberg did a piece on the butterflies that are likely to stray into south Texas. Great photos and excellent text. NABA members get that magazine free.
~ Cat
Cat,,, Midnight? what is that? LOL I think we may be spending some time in south Texas next year.
Elaine
This is normally our driest part of the year, but we've gotten a pretty good amount of rain in the last few weeks. My rain barrel runneth over. This is good because I spread some seeds last weekend and I hate having to keep them moist by lugging water around.
So my sulphur decided it was time to become a butterfly! Here he is getting ready.
Then he gets what I call a "seam" down the side.
You can see the skin scrunching up at the end.
Here the head starts to become the tip of the chrysalis.
I like this picture because you can see the dots moving down his body.
Almost there! You can see the head capsule has made it to the end, too.
And now he's free! He still has to "dry" and the chrysalis will shrink a bit. The one that went in the chrysalis the other day is noticeably smaller, and each day it seems to be getting more of a pink tint.
While we were waiting, we were watching the antics of the other two cats. One was wandering around and twisting and reaching in weird positions. Imagine my surprise to find him in his sling! It's weird, the swallowtails will sit still for about a day before they make their sling, then another day before they turn into the chrysalis. These sulphurs find a spot, make a sling, and then it seems like it takes a little less than a day for them to become a chrysalis. It's neat to watch all the different species go through their cycle.
Melanie
Mellie, such a miracle. thanks for sharing
Elaine
Your most welcome! It really never gets old no matter how many times I watch.
What's that pointy thing on the sulfur in the picture?
Do you mean the last photo? I think you might be looking at one of his prolegs.
Next to the last picture, Melanie. I have been watching your pics as you posted them and was wondering if that point on the end had a purpose.
Very good pictures, Ms Melanie.
I;m gonna go to Selby Gardens in Sarasota, tomorrow, and pick me up a few more butterfly plants, and walk around in the gardens. I've never been there before, so I'm all excited. : )
~Lucy
Mellie, you should take those six pics and combine into one collage and save it out on the bugfiles, that is a great series of the morph action. Good job! Did you take them or your Mom? LOL! She is getting into your hobby isn't she?
Melanie, WOW, those are great photos!!! I'm also jealous of your mom and now you! What a treat, thanks for sharing those pics.
Lucy, I'm heading over to pick up my friend Cheryl and off we go to Selby Gardens too! I hope we don't blow away. Hubby loaded up the garden cart in his van for me last night, (there's never enough carts there), so I'm ready!
Cathy
Wonderful, wonderful series of photos, Melanie! I agree that a collage made from them and posted on BugFiles would be a nice contribution about this lovely butterfly!