Found two ZST cats, one is tiny but the other one has a little size to him. Unlike all my other brown ones, this guy is on his way to becoming green.
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 32
Cat and I are cross-posting! I'm going to put this one in the Cat ID thread as well, but I wanted to show everyone this strange-looking fellow I found on a pawpaw.
Melanie
:o) Mellie.
Moth of sorts...but which one is the million dollar question :o)
Awesome Zebra cat too. WOW!! I want some of those!!! Send them and some rain this way :o)
~ Cat
Cat, we watered the garden for the first time here for the growing season. No rain forecast in sight at least for a week ahead. But today was a beautiful day. We took a hiking trip up the mountain. And found this butterfly, is it a ZST?
Kim
Thanks Cat! This little guy just molted. I've been waiting for him to do it. I finally got around to cleaning all my critter keepers and I've been transferring my caterpillars into them so they don't have to live in Gladware containers anymore. But I couldn't move this little guy until he was done molting. The black ones look so velvety. Oh, and the little one in the picture above stinkhorned me when I picked him off the leaf. Some of them are so tempermental! I have to say, after raising a few kinds of swallowtails, I really do think the zebras have the smelliest osmeterium.
Melanie
Kim, yes that's a Zebra Swallowtail! So nice to see someone else in another state sees them, too! They're my favorites and the one of the few "kite" swallowtails we have in North America. I love the way they fly; it's unlike any other butterfly I've seen.
Melanie (Mommy to the ZST cats)
After they molt the little cats turn around and eat the skin. Lots of reptiles do this, too. I have to appreciate a caterpillar that cleans up after itself. It's nice to see they're not wasterful, either.
Melanie
Oh great...another butterflier showing off a Zebra ST - yeah, yeah, just rub it in Lily for the folks way down south who don't get those beauties :o) Just kidding!!! Sure is nice to see them - even if they'll never venture to my yard :o) You gotta love that black, white and red! Truly a lovely graceful butterfly!!! Thanks for sharing that photo.
Mellie...love those cats!!! Sure wish my dogs would clean up after themselves as well...ROLF!!! Ooooh, imagine that. Major bad doggie breath!
~ Cat
ROTFLMBO!!! You y'all are killing me with laughter! Now that was a funny thought, Cat!!!
Great photos Cat and Melanie! I particularly love the one of your cat eating it's shed skin. I wonder if they do that to keep predators from finding them, just like some cats flip their frass far away from them.
Hmmm...flipping frass. Do you think that will ever take the place of beetle races? I can see it now. How far can you spit a watermelon seed? How far can your caterpillar flip frass? :o)
Okay, am losing it. Have been up since 4am - time to say goodnight. Goodnight John Boy, goodnight Mary Ellen, goodnight Jim Bob, goodnight Elizabeth...
~ Cat
Kim, congratulations on finding a ZST in our neck of the woods!
Mellie, you have completely fascinated me with your presentation of the ZST cat. There is so much in life that I have missed. Thanks for the wonderful education on this cat.
Cat, I am also learning a lot from you. I didn't know that in our country one could veritably "smell" Mexico. Interesting. BTW, I am so sorry your folks lost stock to those dogs. I hope your dad gets his vengeance.
Martha
Thanks all, I was so excited when I found the ZST. I've also seen many others during the hike, but my tiny Kodak wasn't the right camera. I needed my manual Cannon 35mm with its zoom lenses.
Melanie; if you could recommend a camera for butterflies and birding, which one would you suggest? A digital camera, that's. I've seen several, but still undecided. Becky, Cat. Everyone here in the forum take wonderful pics. would you help me out too?
Oh, the camera would be an investment for the long long usage.
Kim
Hey Butterfly folks. I, too, would like to know a good camera to shoot bf's this summer. My bf garden is just about planted, so I should be attracting some good takes pretty soon.
Martha
Lily - I, too, am enjoying your ZST photos! That's one I'd love to see show up in my yard! Perhaps some day... I finally got hummers, so ANYTHING is possible! LOL!
My camera's zoom and macro is not anything special, but I still like my camera. I find that if I take a photo from a little farther away and then use a photo editing program to crop it down to size, I can get a decent close-up. My camera is a Kodak Easyshare Z712 IS. I got it during a huge after-Thanksgiving Day sale at Circuit City for a great price. :-)
Kim, that's the same Kodak Mark has, and he takes great pics.
Martha
Thats how I became Mr_Kodak.......................
I have the ZD712 IS............. amazing camera and fantastic photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To use the macro on it Becky, you have to use it in manual mode and not auto. Then you can take good close ups!! If you use it in auto mode then you have to be 4 feet away and use the zoom!
Actually the Z710 is a much better camera, because you can use the macro on auto setting!!
This is taken this morning on my ZD712 IS
Mark - OHHHH! Thanks for that tip!! I just tried it and it works perfect. I got as close as 4" to the subject!!! That's what I wanted! Now I can say that I really, really like this camera! LOL! I was doing the macro in automatic setting! (sheesh) I guess I didn't read the manual completely or something.
LOL......................... Oh well, at least you know now Becky!!! You would have to look hard in the manual to find that is how you do macro shots!!
Cat...one of my neighbors got his comeuppance about letting his dog out. The goat rancher in the area caught his dog attacking the goats on the ranch and killed the dog (perfectly legal here as long as they witnessed the dog doing it). Then they gave the dog's tag to the Sheriff's Office and a deputy came out and asked the neighbor about his dog. He tried to deny it was his, but of course, the tags proved it. He eventually had to pay a fine of several hundred dollars. I guess that was for the damage the dog did to the goats...not sure.
I'm so glad everyone is enjoying my Zebra ST cats as much as I do. They're my favorites (but don't tell the other cats)! I use a Kodak Easy Share C743. Like Becky, I bought mine on the day after Thanksgiving a few years ago. It's been pretty good; I like that it fits in my pocket so when I go hiking I don't have to lug it around.
For you birders, there were a ton of them out yesterday morning. When I was putting on my shoes I could hear all these different bird calls. As soon as I walked outside I saw the Red Shouldered hawk that lives in our neighborhood. I also heard and saw a woodpecker up in our oak tree which was neat.
Ok, I'm off to battle the weeds! Hopefully, I'll see some butterflies when I'm outside today.
Melanie
A Gulf Fritillary.
Nice GF!
I just released 2 today. They never seem to stay around my yard though. My hard-pruned Passion Flower vines are coming back quickly. Too bad the GF and ZLW don't seem impressed with them! LOL!
Pretty GF, bsharf!
Hey, hey Mark! First we don't see you for weeks. Now you are everywhere!
t's settled. I have to get a ZD 712 IS. The pics are better than my 812.
Martha
Enjoyed reading all this new stuff,, especially those cats cleaning up after themselves.. lol
It is finally butterfly time and hummingbird time here... yippee. Got a picture of this one today. ?
Elaine
I've seen few butterflies in my zone. But G.F. won't be here until much later, especially my Maypop won't sprout until May. Sob sob. Thanks all for sharing pics. of those b.f. that I won't be able to see until much later.
ETS on blueberry blooms
Elaine you have an American Lady in the post #4701187. Here is a link to look at. Be sure to click the additional images to see an open wing shot.
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1769
Not fair, I am in 7b too but not seeing many bfs here yet.
Not too many butterflies out and about today. It's a little cooler here, low 70s and we're supposed to get down to 44 tonight! I did see a Swallowtail fly through the yard; I think I saw the same one yesterday. I can't see any yellow on it so I'm hoping it's a Pipevine ST. I checked my pipevine, but nothing yet.
In other news, I found a mystery caterpillar rolled up in a leaf on my Mayhaw. I posted him on the cat ID thread. I brought him inside with a couple of Mayhaw leaves. I just looked and noticed one of the leaves was up against the side of the container - because the cat silked it to the side and made himself a new shelter! Isn't that cool? He thinks he's hiding; it's so cute. These cats are pretty smart, huh?
Melanie
Y'all. I'm entranced with all of the beautiful bf and cat pics. This is a wonderful thread.
Martha
You not been on here before Martha......???????
Mark
Hi Mark. Sure, I've been on here off and on since late last summer. My comments are a reiteration of how I love this thread. Something new and informative all the time.
Martha
Hi y'all! Great to see everyone's progress now that we are approaching spring. Things are picking up around here too, and I have been outside a lot when not at the Conservatory.
Kim! Delighted to see the ZST there... maybe my chances are getting better.:-). I am armed with a couple Pawpaws this year so who knows... ahem!! (LOL Cat & Becky).
I have been planting up a storm here, and seedlings are coming up like crazy. It's been really windy lately so the fly bys have been really short visits... Too short to get pics.
If you guys want to see what I have been doing the last few weeks just click on my name and go to ~ posts debnes has made or threads started~ (Something like that). You will see the whole list ... I couldn't get the url because it says "myposts" in it. But you guys can try it anyway... If one of you can get a good url please post it.
http://davesgarden.com/myposts.php
Debnes
Wow, Debnes, you've been busy. Beautiful phots, that Postman is quite the looker!
This link might work:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/threads.php?user=debnes_dfw_tx
I saw a Polydamas fly through the yard yesterday, hope it will find the pipevine.
Cathy
Thank You Cathy!
That should work ... I am still not finished posting them all. Seems every day I work there I see one or two new ones!! :-o!!
I am looking forward to being "all here" again, but I have a few more days to work at the exhibit, and then a couple of round-ups I am going to in April... Then I should be officially back in the swing of things here.
Guess I will go ahead and start a new thread..:-) Will be right back to post the link in a few.
Debnes
Here's the new thread:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/827370/
:-)
Debnes
Sheila, thanks for the id. Going to name her right now. I'm sure you will be getting butterflies soon.
Elaine