Great shots bsharf!!
:-)
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 34
Some of the Monarch eggs I'm finding have no stick-em', others do. I don't keep the ones that don't stick, since in the past I've never had a no-stick-em' egg hatch. So I may not have that many. I haven't seen the mama today. Of course, we've got workers putting on new siding today, which doesn't exactly encourage butterflies. I did see a leafwing and a GST this morning. I think the GST is a male waiting on a mate. No eggs found on my hop trees or crotons either. We've had two nights now just under 40°F, a bit chilly for April here.
I posted an article over on the Invasive Plants forum about spraying taking place around San Francisco to combat the invasive light brown apple moth. Check it out if you're interested: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/834501/
My Giant ST still hasn't eclosed. If he doesn't come out tomorrow, I'm going in! Just kidding! But really, what is he waiting for? The chrysalis is darkening, I can see the outline of the wings, and it feels thinner. Patience is not one of my virtues.
Melanie
I'm off to look at mailordernative site. Thanks ya''ll for the name fo the bottlebrush. If Callistemon viminalis won't survive in my zone maybe Calycanthus floridus will! Gotta have one or the other.
Mellanie, you just amaze me at your knowledge about butterflies. I'll be on the lookout for Palamedes now that I know about that diagonal line. I'm so glad I didn't shoot off my big mouth and tell her it was an East Black Swallowtail! LOL.
Please someone, tell me how to tell the difference between a yellow female Tiger ST and male Tiger ST.
Debra, I took a picture of a Palamedes down in Waycross on thistle, so you should see some in your area too. I think I posted him on thread 33. Wish I would see one up here. Going to make some 'brew' tomorrow.
Question... do the dark form and yellow form of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails mate? Or were the ones I saw fighting?
Elaine
I thought the dark form was only for females. So the males can be dark too?
Deb, You asked about what butterfly I saw here already (in Indiana), and all I can say was it was "monarch-orange" with a lot of black spots. I'm thinking Meadow Frittilary. The body part was dark, the outside of the wings (what you see when they are closed) was just sort of mottled grayish brownish non-color.
Suzy
bsharf -- I've read about that diagonal line and Melanie mentioned it when I had a Polydamas, but I just couldn't picture it. Thanks for the great pictures! Now I'll know what to look for.
I didn't get any good sideways shots of this one, but I think it's a Polydamas.
Melanie, your baby Zebra ST is so pretty. What a beautiful thing you've done for the world by raising it.
This monarch keeps coming by and hanging out on a bare branch. I think it can't believe that I don't have any milkweed, and I can't believe it either!
Thanks everyone! I only know a lot because I read a lot. If there's one thing I like more than butterflies, it's books. I've got to get rid of some, I haven't seen parts of my floor in months.
Now for some really exciting news! If you're looking at the picture below, you're probably thinking, "Yeah, it's a zebra ST cat. What's so special?" Well, this one is super special because I found it on MY pawpaw!!! I planted asimina reticulata seedlings last year and they're still tiny. But at the same time I ordered three asimina parviflora from the above mentioned www.mailordernatives.com Today I was walking around the garden just checking things out and there he was sunning himself on top of the leaf! As many cats as I've found in the wild, I just couldn't believe there was one on my pawpaw. He's big enough to have been there at least a couple of weeks. The plant he was on didn't have much damage, but something had been chewing on another one. It makes me wonder if he moved from one plant to the other since I didn't find any other cats. What I'm really excited about is that this means one of the native Zebra Swallowtails must have laid that egg because I only released my first butterfly two days ago. Like I always say - if you plant it, they will come!
As if that wasn't enough excitement, my first ever Giant ST decided to come out today. Conveniently, it was lunch time so I got to play with it. Here's a picture before he came out. You can see the eyes and proboscis.
Climbing on out...
They're so furry I just want to pet them. They don't really like that though.
It sat like this for a long time. Hey, I can see my adding machine tape in the background. Told you guys I was an accountant!
And here's the top side of the Giant ST. Another one of my eggs hatched, so now I have two Giant ST cats. Dad picked up some orange leaves on his mail route so I've got plenty to feed them. Dad also watched me release this guy and we followed it as it flew up to the oak tree. Awesome!
Melanie
Congratulations, Melonie, and thanks for allowing us to link up to your wonderful experience. The Giant ST photos are fantastic! BTW, I enjoyed reading the article you posted on the pros and cons of spraying that pesticide mixed with pheromones in SF.
Martha
OMG, Melanie! That is awesome of the Zebra Swallowtail! How awesome indeedie! And your emerging GST is a BEAUT!!!! Lucky YOU! I can still remember when you were just a newbie to all this and now look at you! I'm proud to know ya and all you've accomplished in such a short time! And your parents are the coolest to help you with this newfound hobby! :-) :-) :-)
This hobby is definitely addictive. I remember thinking, "I'll just plant some butterfly plants and enjoy watching the butterflies in the garden." But then that first caterpillar shows up and you just want to protect it from the big, bad world. Not to mention watch such a miraculous transformation!
I was also glad to see that Zebra ST cat because I didn't think I had enough plants or that they weren't big enough. I know ZST don't mind small plants, but I figured I would need a certain quantity to attract their attention. I know I'm in a good spot though because I live a few miles from two preserves (one to the east, one to the west) where they are known to frequent. I had kind of a surprise too dirving down the main road the other day; there's a cow pasture there and I saw a pawpaw in bloom right near the road! They're much easier to see when they're flowering. You know, I ran out of pawpaw last week and went out and picked a few leaves off of mine to keep the cats from eating each other. To think that little cat might have been there; of course, it was before work and dark outside so I wouldn't have seen him anyway!
FYI, I've often wondered on here if the swallowtails can use their stinkhorns (osmeterium) in all of their instars. After trying to coax a one-day old Giant ST cat onto a leaf, I can assure you they have them, and they work. They were sooo tiny though!
Melanie
Oh,, such beauties, all of them. Melanie, so glad for you to have the native Zebra St.
We are in a slow down here right now. Temps down in the low 30's at night. I have lots of woods and grass for them hide in. And lots of wood piles (leftovers from tornado last year-still clearing) I did see an ETS today. Ran to get my camera and of course it was gone when I got back. They love my Yoshina Cherry Tree. All the blooms are gone now, so they will be on the azaleas.
Just did some studying on ETS. The female is blue or black. And male is yellow. So what I saw was a pair getting married and have little cats. YEH.. I am definitely becoming addicted to butterflies like I am to plants.
Elaine
This message was edited Apr 15, 2008 9:22 PM
A pair getting married. LOL You so silly, Elaine. : )
LOL Elaine!!
Here is a little something to top off all the studying. Dale has some pretty good pics here of all 3 of the ETSTs. male, light form female, and dark form female. The males will mate with either form of female of course. They see differently than we do, and then there are the pheromones which are much more receptive than color.
http://www.dallasbutterflies.com/Butterflies/html/glaucus.html
It's really getting exciting over at your place Melanie! Thanks for sharing all of it with us here..:-)! I hear you about the books. Living in the fly zone can't hurt either.
;-)
Thanks Deb. He has some great pictures. Now going to read up on the zebras..
Elaine
Awesome pictures, Mellie, wow words won't be adequate to compliment your sucess with your beautiful babies. Wow, I'll have to go back and savor all the steps that you've taken the time to post it for us. Thank you.
Awww...you're welcome everyone. I just get so excited and want to share with other people who I know get just as excited as me. From the looks of my chrysalids, it looks like I'll definitely have another Zebra ST tomorrow. I'll let Mom set it free since I got to do the first one. I've also got a Cloudless Sulphur chrysalis that looks like it's almost ready. Oh, when Dad got home today he said he saw a butterfly on the plumbago that looked "just like the one yesterday" meaning the Giant ST we released. Maybe it's hanging out - there's certainly enough to eat around here!
Melanie
Oh,, Oh, I went and searched on this one but couldn't find. I was out where all my plants are that I had uncovered in my temp. greenhouse today. The sun was low and very warm and this lady/lad stayed and let me take pics, then zoomed up and got 'married',, so I am hoping I have something they like to lay their eggs on. I just bought some plants, so maybe the eggs were on them....
Any ideas???
Elaine
another pic,
Elaine - Red admiral? Looks like you have it going on in your yard, too! Congrats!
Thanks Becky,, just found it. Now to make some brew. I put some old peaches and cherry juice out...as it was getting dark. Going to study.. I took pics of my hummers today too. They just love the Red Buckeyes in my woods. I think that is what draws them in to my feeders.
Elaine
More butterflies from Indiana: Eastern Tail Blue? Some really little blue ones. :)
So the count is 3: Meadown frit, Cannage Whites and Eastern Tail Blues. Not bad for mid April!
Mellie, Those are outstanding photos! Good job!
Suzy
Could anyone help me I.D. a moth that nectaring during the evening hours? I was pulling weeds out of my spring bulbs garden, this clear-winged Moth was hovering over my pansies and take nectar out of them. Sorry I didn't have a pic. to show, but the thing was really busy nectaring and was an arm reach away from me, I saw two gold bands on it lower abdomen. What could it be? Thanks. Its colouring is darker compared to that of a Tersa Sphinx moth. (which appears orange).
I think you may have already guessed in your description Kim...
Did it look kinda like this?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/743251/
Here are more clearwings:
http://butterfliesandmoths.org/search?searchbox=clearwing
They are really hard to photograph!!!
Deb, thank you. Wooohooo, besides Tersa, now I've clear-wing!!! Thank you.
Kim
I know nothing about butterflies, but I had my first butterfly/moth today!! A nice sign of spring!
My local hummingbird moth seems to have switched from the gold columbine to the penstemons lately. Now I'm so glad to have so many penstemons and both the hummingbirds and the hummingbird moths like them! I like double duty plants.
Definitely is a good sign Mrs Ed! What you have there looks like a Painted Lady butterfly. They eat nettles as caterpillars, and are often some the first ones we notice. They overwinter as adults staying in warm places such as cracks in buildings and trees to keep from freezing. There are several in the same family you may also notice as it warms up there. The family is Vanessa...
http://butterfliesandmoths.org/search?searchbox=vanessa
You will be seeing the first 3 on the list where you are.
This forum is a crash course in butterflies and moths. People who come here become experts faster than anything. Just ask anyone here :-) I hope you will keep showing us what you see around where you live. (That is what out Daily Butterfly thread is for.)
Nice to see you Mrs Ed!
_________________________________
I agree Linda double duty plants are winners! Especially when we run out of room so fast, (by wanting everything we see, lol). I really like the ones that do nectar and hosting duty. :-D!
Debnes
Hey thanks Debnes! I Know that we have lots of Red admirals. We enjoyed them last year… there were 3 or 4 or them that were fascinated with the updraft on the air conditioning. Then they'd move to over one of the stepping stones. It was fun to watch. I have monarchs too. They enjoyed my butterfly weed. I also plant lots of dill and parsley for them to munch on. It would be fun to get some of the other kinds in the yard, like some blue ones. I will Certainly post!
Can anyone tell what this is? It was around in September of last year. I could not get a picture with the wings open, but it had white edges (you can kinda see).
Ah the lovely Mourning Cloak!! Nice one.. They are fruit and dung feasters. If you make some brew you will attract more of those.
Here are some of our archives on them:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/search.php?forum=&search_text=mourning+cloak&limit=bbb&search_area=body&limit_poster=&Search=Search
Here is a brew recipe:
http://www.theletteroflove.com/wallpaper/index.php?paged=4
IMost butterflies coming out up north now are fruit feasters. The alcohol in the rotting fruit or brew convert to glycols and act as antifreeze.
The parsley will be a host for the Black Swallowtail butterflies exclusively. They are the only species that use it. They also use all plants in the carrot family and fennel as well. I believe you get a lot of those up in IL. All of the Swallowtail butterflies overwinter in their chrysalids and they should be emerging from them about this time.
The Milkweed we use for Monarchs is of the Asclepias family of plants and there are many different kinds of them. Which one do you have? If you like I can send you some seeds for the fast growing A.curassavica, (Tropical Milkweed).
This message was edited Apr 17, 2008 6:14 PM
Ha!! Dung feasters. I should have tons of those, having two dogs!!!
My milkweed is Asclepius Tuberosa. I just recently got some others from critterologist, but I can't remember. Incarnata I think. Also, lots of other butterfly/hummingbird plants. Sure, I'll take some more seeds!!
Oh, I also have some phlox which the swallowtails seem to love.
Here is a Cat on my Rue a few years ago.
Well, Mom got to release a Zebra ST and a Cloudless Sulphur today. I've got a huge Cloudless Sulphur cat on one of my cassia bushes right now. Dad and I were marveling at its size. I haven't mentioned my other sulphur friends lately, but it looks like their time to shine is now. I have two Orange-Barred Sulphurs in chrysalis right now. I posted a picture of it earlier; their chrysalis is greenish instead of yellow like the Cloudless Sulphurs. Tonight I was checking on everyone when I noticed something neat. You can see the "orange bar" through the chrysalis! Check it out - it looks like spots right now because he's still all crinkled up in there.
Unlike swallowtails, sulphurs hang upside-down in their chrysalis. Here you can see his head! It looks like I'll be taking another butterfly to work tomorrow.
Melanie
