I guess I'll just be forced to raise her eggs and see what they turn into! In one of my books there's a picture of an Orange Barred Sulphur that does look a lot like the one I saw. I wish I had gotten a better look at the top side, but when I tried she wriggled free and flew away.
Melanie
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 32
So Melanie ... are you now the Butterfly STALKER????? LOL!
Beautiful butterfly! Good luck with the eggs. I raised a bunch last year and they are the cutest cats ever! Except for the wooly bear cats. (Which I am raising currently.)
Well, it was my property and you know we have that "Stand Your Ground" law here in FL, LOL! You do what you can when you don't have a net. I really didn't think I'd be able to catch it; I was really surprised when I did. I keep thinking about Mr. Miyagi catching that fly in "The Karate Kid"!
Melanie
You are too funny, Melanie! I am impressed that you actually caught that butterfly, too! They don't usually stop for very long and can sure fly off FAST!!!
Nice shots of the sulfur Melanie, those are quick little devils.
Beautiful photos of the sulphurs, Melanie. I'm so glad you happened to mention a net. I'm going to need one this summer. Do you know of a particular site thats good to purchase butterfly nets?
Martha
Can someone describe the difference between "clouded" and "cloudless" Sulphurs?
Thanks
Martha, I was going to get one from www.monarchwatch.org They also give you instructions on how to make your own, or at least what to look for in a good net. Check it out here on their Monarch Tagging Page: http://www.monarchwatch.org/tagmig/tag.htm I imagine another place to look would be those "science" stores like the Discovery store. Or if your city has a Science Museum with a gift shop (I've seen them at our MOSI museum here in Tampa).
I was out watering my very first vegetable garden (which is doing awesome by the way) and I saw a Gulf Fritillary, Zebra Longwing, and a Giant Swallowtail. At first I thought it was the Tiger ST that's been flying around, but when it flew near me I could see it was the Giant ST. My Hercules Club has barely leafed out, but the optimist in me checked it anyway. No luck yet. I was also checking my cherry tree and thinking we butterfly gardeners must be about the only people who are happy to see caterpillar damage on their plants. The Cassius Blues have also taken up residence in my plumbagos again. Or maybe they just woke up from the winter. Either way, they're back!
Melanie
Thanks, Melanie. I will check out all of those sites.
Enjoy your vegetable garden. Watch out for those tomatoe hornworms. They get huge. Some tomato experts say you can just handpick them from your tomatoe vines and destroy them rather than spraying. That's what I did when I grew tomatos.
Martha
Hey Trois,
I am not one to answer the question, but I found a great comparison side by side site that may help.
http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabambc/frames-1species.asp?sp=Phoebis-sennae
Sheila, that is a great site. Very easy to compare them. : )
~Lucy
A Cloudless Sulphur
Martha, I found one of those hornworms on my datura last year and just freaked out. I couldn't believe how big it was. I know some people like to raise them, but I couldn't handle their mean little faces.
Didn't spend too much time outside today, but when I was stuck in traffic I saw lots of Whites in the median. There were about 8-10 in one spot where I could see Spanish Needles, Lantana, and some native grasses growing. Looks like they haven't mowed in a while so there was lots to please the butterflies.
Melanie
Has anyone seen my butterfly house? Strong winds and rain today blew it away from under my patio. Nowhere in sight. I only hope if it blew to a neighbors house down the road, they'll know to unzip it and release my overwintering EBSTs when they eclose, 'bout 20 of them! :(
Mellie, I've been stuck in traffic quite a bit lately too and I enjoy looking a the median for native species.
bsharf, what is that pretty red flower your Sulphur is on?
Oh no, I am sure some people wouldn't have a clue what they are! Hopefully they will be rescued by someone who knows they are chrysalis and take care of them.
Best check behind your fence. I had one of those inflatable halloween pumpkins out of nylon end up behind my backyard fence. It came from a neighbor 12 houses away on the street in front of me. It must've taken flight!!! That would've been a sight...The Great Pumpkin flying through the air! Charlie Brown would have been proud!!!
~ Cat
lol!
There was what looked like a leafwing flitting around today. They are hard to get a good look at even when it's not windy. But on a windy day...darn! That's a shame about the butterfly house. Hope it turns up! Found a GF cat today.
It was windy and rained this morning so there wasn't a whole lot of butterfly action. I was stuck indoors anyway. Mom did report a Zebra Longwing in the yard today. Since I don't have any butterfly pics, I thought I'd update everyone on my Giant ST. This picture is of his rear end! Notice how he has a kind of "false face" to scare predators.
Today he molted, for what I think will be the last time before he makes a chrysalis. Here you can see his skin behind him and head capsule next to him.
Mom finds it neat how their head and legs are white right after they molt. I also like that in this picture you can see the little blue flecks on him - so pretty!
Melanie
Mel, there are very few GST cat pics in the bug files, and none with the detail of yours. Please post them there. http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/639/
Done! My caterpillar's a supermodel, LOL!
Melanie, at first glance, your GST looked like a cat fish to me! I really had look close.
LOL!! It is strange, but facinating if you have seen one in person. When they are small they look like bird poop, so the catfish description isn't a bad one! LOL!
A catfish - Too funny!!! I can see the resemblance. Wait...I also see pictures in clouds too and four of the five voices in my head agree !!! :o) ROLF!!!
On another note...I am planning a native plant raid tomorrow! Our computers went down at the office so I stepped outside and walked over to the other side of the dock to enjoy the afternoon air. I noticed something 'green' growing in the middle of dried grass and dirt. Went closer and noticed it was frogfruit!!! The company that mows the port grounds literally mows dirt because the ground around our dock and parking lot is sooooooo dry. No one believes in watering grass or rather, dirt in our scenario.
Have been trying to convince the gov't contractor that handles the maintenance to put in a butterfly garden...but they haven't moved on it yet. They need to get federal approval and city approval. Gov't Red tape!
So I decided I'm going to dig them up and bring them home. Saw several frogfruit plants that look quite healthy considering their arid environment.
Also found a small patch of heliotrope - which I have been after for ages!!! WOOHOO!!! Saw a lone worn Western Pygmy Blue on it too.
I've already put a tub of potting soil, my shovel and some pots in my car. So if anyone drives by tomorrow and sees an officer digging a hole near the river don't think I'm hiding a body!!! ROLF!!!
~ Cat
You go Cat, way to make use of down time!
Cat are you going to transplant your "treasure" at the ranch with the other wildflowers or take them to your house?
Am going to bring them to my house in the city and put them into shallow tubs but once they multiply I'll move some to the ranch too. Everything is just do dry out there.
I hate to admit it but I haven't done much at the ranch. Brother had to travel out of town and won't be back until this weekend but then I have to travel to South Carolina next week then Laredo, TX the following week.
Our wind has been horrible as well. We had 35-45 mph winds and a large brush fire that was out of control on Tuesday - we don't have the exact acreage damage but some reports say 17,000 acres and other say up to 50,000 by last count. It blazed a path up to 18 miles wide through three counties. A handful of houses and several livestock were lost but no human lives. I guess a good point is that it is out in the country so the houses aren't close together like in the city where if one goes up in flames it jumps to the next and the next until a whole blocks are destroyed like in California.
We had something like 100 firefighters, truck and bull dozers from all over the surrounding cities help out. They even brought in tankers and planes from Austin or San Antonio (can't remember) with flame retardant foam to get it under control. It took them two days but thank God it's over now. The road to the ranch was blocked off from the San Manuel, TX side so folks had to drive around through McCook, Tx.
All is well...but it did have everyone in the valley on edge and since it started in the afternoon getting through the night was the scariest part. The strong winds were to blame. They knocked down power lines and the sparks of live wires started the grass fire.
We had a powerline snap at work on Tuesday as well. The wind would whip that loose wire all around and every time it came into contact with another wire it would cause a huge blue fireball of light and you could hear the horrible rumbling. I was standing out on our dock at work watching from about 75 yards away. You could feel the power rumbling through your body too. Sparks would spray but there were several police assigned to the bridge there who put them out until the fire department came to stand guard and the electric company came to repair the lines. It was a fantastic light show :o) but I now see how easily grass fires can start!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=wildfire+hidalgo+march+2008
~ Cat
My mouth dropped open wide reading about those firses. I'm glad no one was hurt. Maybe when it's all over, pretty new growth will appear. Winds like that would scatter any newly sown seeds too. March winds are very strong here too. Fall may be the best time to sow most wildflowers in Texas, I would guess.
Golly, I'm glad you are safe, Cat. I also watched the torrential downpour of rain (in the Dallas area, I think) on the news.
Martha
Stay safe all of you in Texas in harm's way!!!!
Goodness gracious Cat, I hope things get better over your way!
Cathy
We're all fine. But sure could've used some of that rain Dallas got. Go figure. It snows in the north Texas...when it's 100 down here in albeit about 8 hours drive away. Then Dallas gets devasting rain and floods and we get wildfires. What's with all this strange weather. Am waiting to see if we'll get a freak hairstorm in April. We've gotten one for the past couple of years.
On a better note. I rescued the heliotrope and some frogfruit from the parched grounds near our dock. I'd only taken a hand spade and that dirt was hard! UGH! I ended up snapping a tap root of the heliotrope - that thing as about 1/2 thick...so the poor plant had been there a while. Bet it was sure glad to get planted in a pot of fresh yummy potting soil with lots of nutrients and water. Will have to hold off on getting more frogfruit until I get back. Those also have thick and long taproots. Am going to ask one of the maintenance guys to hook up a hose so I can soak the area to make the digging easier. Then am going to talk him into digging a few up for me as well. ROLF! Men! Gotta love 'em :o)
Saw one lone dainty sulphur when I was snatching a patch of frogfruit. The plant had wee white flowers. At least the wind has let up.
Okay, enough of weather and disasters...show me some butterflies! I've not seen much of anything lately.
~ Cat
Maybe I'll get butterfly pics this weekend. San Antonio just has dirty cars. Possibly soil from Mexico, West Texas and pollen from wherever. We often get the ashes and smoke when Mexico burns land before planting, but this is different.
Linda, do you have pine trees around? Every year about this time they release green pollen. It's like the whole outdoors has been dusted in green. The cars, roofs, foliage, you name it, covered in green. I can't leave my windows open or my furniture will be green!
Martha
No pines. We have junipers that get things dirty (icky yellow-brown crud that's hard to wash off good), but this isn't the right time for it. The allergy pollen report had oak, hackberry and mulberry listed...and I'm sure there are tons of plants that produce pollen and aren't listed.
Went out to the ranch for a quick visit with the folks before I head out. They are very upset because some stray dogs got into one of the pastures and killed 9 boer goats and one goose. The neighbor saw it and described the dogs.
There is no leash law out in the country and whenever someone's dogs kills livestock nobody will claim ownership of the dogs. My folks called the sheriff (who is 40 miles away) and he said if they killed the dogs the owner could sue them for cruelty to animals! Needless to say, my folks weren't happy to hear that. Dad said he'd like to see the owner come forward because he wants retribution and says anything trespassing is fair game. Now he's been riding around the back pastures several times a day looking for those stray dogs.
My sister-in-law and I drove around in the golf cart and all we saw was a snake. Couldn't tell what it was from the distance but I sure scared the frass out of her when she got down to open the gate. I rattled a coffee can of chicken scratch I carry in the golf cart to toss to the quails. I've never seen someone climb a fence so fast! ROLF!!!!
Okay...enough with the story telling. I did see a pipevine swallowtail laying eggs. I don't know how they find the aristolochia erecta out in the back fields. That plant is a mere 3 or 4 inches high and blends in so well with the grass.
Here's a photo of the plant bloom in the midst of all that dried out grass.
~ Cat
It rained most of the day today, but I went to pick some pawpaw for the zebra swallowtails anyhow. While I was out I saw one ZST flying around in between showers and I managed to get a picture when it landed on the ground.
...and what mama pipevine left behind. Two eggs before she flew off when I got too close.
~ Cat
ps...awesome butterfly Mellie!! Those are really gorgeous butterflies...which of course, we don't get this far south!
Linda...try living near the border - we get the stench of trash from Mexico pretty much on a daily basis. One time when I was working a midnight shift Mexico started burning trash - don't know what was in it but it turned my contacts gray and hard. I just about had to peel them off my eyeballs!!!
We also get lots black ash from all the sugar cane fields around this area when it's time to burn the fields.
This message was edited Mar 22, 2008 9:11 PM
